<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>If I'm On Fire by AerinKebiinkad (Socially_Awkward_Dragon)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546566">If I'm On Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socially_Awkward_Dragon/pseuds/AerinKebiinkad'>AerinKebiinkad (Socially_Awkward_Dragon)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stars Collide [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boba just wants to fuck Reader, Din doesn't know what hit him, Din isn't the nicest when they meet but we all know where this is headed, Doggy Style, F/M, Fennec thinks the entire situation is funny as shit, Gun Fight, Hurt/Comfort, Masturbation, Multi, Oral Sex, Reader is a Force User but not a Jedi, Reader is always ready to throw down, Slow Burn, Soft Boys, Threesome - F/M/M, Voyeurism, comm sex, mild descriptions of healing wounds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:28:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546566</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socially_Awkward_Dragon/pseuds/AerinKebiinkad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You just wanted a safe place to hide out. Tatooine seemed nice and quiet, hardly anything happened here since Jabba was killed. What could possibly go wrong?</p><p>This is a Reader fic but NO Y/N.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Boba Fett/Reader, Din Djarin/Boba Fett, Din Djarin/Boba Fett/Reader, Din Djarin/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stars Collide [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091429</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>In the mood for romance</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One: I've Been Having Dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the prequel to When Stars Collide. Not necessary to read first, both are designed to be read separate or in order. I just COULD NOT get this out of my head and stayed up way to late to write it.</p><p>I really wanted to go back to the Triad’s beginnings before When Stars Collide. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to current time soon. I have some great ideas for our little aliit.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You hadn’t met any Mandalorians in your travels, but you knew enough about them to know he could probably take you down in two seconds flat, no matter how good you were with your own weapons. And you were very good.</p><p>Song Inspo: Trampoline by SHAED</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cantina was bustling when you stopped in for a quick meal.</p><p>Payday on Tatooine was much like payday on any other planet, you had found, anyone with some spare credits found themselves at the cantina to either drown their sorrows in private or with a group of friends. The tables were crowded, full of people enjoying themselves before they went back to their humdrum lives. You searched for an open spot before you saw your friend Peli and made a beeline for her table.</p><p>Well, maybe friend was stretching it, the two of you were friendly enough for her to allow you to use her hanger to work on any repairs on your little puddle jumper without charging an arm and a leg and you occasionally bought each other drinks as you played sabacc. Friendly enough for you to feel confident in dropping into the empty stool at her table, only realizing she had company when you found yourself at the business end of a blaster, held in the tight grip of a <em>kriffing Mandalorian</em>. A successful Mandalorian, if the state of his shiny armor was any indictor. What the fuck had you just walked into?</p><p>“Calm down Mando, she’s with me,” Peli said cheerfully, waving at you lazily. The mechanic was already a couple drinks in based on the empty cups on the table, but clearly thinking straight enough to vouch for you. You stared down the Mandalorian at the other end of the blaster, terrified out of your skin, but you had been dealing with assholes who pulled a gun on you for since you were thirteen and escaped from your home planet, this was no different. With a grunt, he holstered his weapon and you forced yourself to relax, calmly reaching for the bottle of spotchka on the table and pouring yourself a shot.</p><p>“Didn’t realize you ran in such high circles, Peli,” you snarked as you downed the shot. It burnt like hellfire, crap quality liquor was all you could get on a skughole like Tatooine, but you refused to flinch. Sweat trickled down your back as the Mando stared you down, his shining helmet never leaving your face. Well, you assumed he was staring you down, it was hard to tell when his entire face was covered, but you wouldn’t be surprised. You didn’t exactly hide the blaster at your hip, or the electrostaff strapped to your back. He probably considered you a threat, having so unceremoniously taken a seat at what probably was not a friendly meeting. You hadn’t met any Mandalorians in your travels, but you knew enough about them to know he could probably take you down in two seconds flat, no matter how good you were with your own weapons. And you were <em>very</em> good.</p><p>“Mando here is looking for someone and he seems to keep coming back to visit little ol’ me,” she said cheerfully, stealing back the bottle to take a swig directly from the source. The Mando’s visor snapped to her, radiating irritation that the older woman blithely ignored. “Say, you’ve been around the sector a few times. Ever seen any creatures like him?”</p><p>You followed her pointed finger to the pouch hanging off the Mando’s side, partially hidden under a ragged cloak. You blinked in surprise, startled that you hadn’t noticed the creature straight off. So much for your observation skills. Big, dark eyes blinked up at you from a squashed face only a mother could love, big ears lifting in interest when it noticed your attention on it. It raised a tiny, three finger hand and cooed at you. Something in your frozen heart melted a little and you waved two fingers back at the creature.</p><p>“What is it, a pet?” you asked, entranced by the creature. It was so ugly it was cute, as your mother used to say, and you really wanted to pick it up and cuddle it, though you figured any motions toward it would end with a blaster between your eyes. “Never seen anything like it, sorry.”</p><p>“Sorry Mando, she’s the only person I can think of that might know anything on this dusty rock,” Peli said, shrugging. “Its his kid, he’s trying to find others like him.”</p><p>You raised an eyebrow at the unflinching helmet. His kid? No way it was <em>actually</em> his kid, there was no way he could be hiding big ears under that helmet.</p><p>“I had no idea mandos ran green,” you quipped as you took another shot of spotchka.</p><p>“He’s a foundling,” the mando finally spoke up, voice regulated through a vocoder. “I’ve been quested to bring it back to his kind, a race of sorcerers called jedi.”</p><p>Your gut wrenched and you had to stop yourself from getting up and running away as fast as your legs could carry you. Kriff kriff kriff, there was no way this Mandalorian knew you could use the Force, right? You were so careful; you hadn’t used your power <em>once</em> since you left your last crew to hide out in this dustball. No kriffing way he was here for you.</p><p>“Jedi?” you said as casually as you could, hoping you injected enough boredom into your tone to hide your unease. “Can’t say I’ve heard of them either. Have you tried asking around Mos Espa?”</p><p>The helmet had never looked away from you since you sat down, but shit he was leaning forward, calling your bluff without saying even a <em>word</em>. Sweat broke out in the palms of your hands and you stifled the urge to rub them against your leggings, instead reaching for the bottle of spotchka again to pour another shot.</p><p>“You’re lying.”</p><p>Two simple words and your world started to tilt on its access. The bottle shook slightly in your hand and you knew you would spill the liquor so you set it down with a solid <em>thunk</em> and glared at the mando.</p><p>“I beg your pardon?” you snarled, indignant at being called out so carelessly. Of course you were lying, but no one had ever caught on so quickly. Fuck fuck fuck.</p><p>“Your core temperature just rose, you are barely able to keep yourself in that chair,” he said flatly. “What do you want? Credits?”</p><p>You shook your head, already looking for a way out of this cantina. Peli was no help, she was drunk as fuck and looking between you and the Mandalorian like you were a holodrama.</p><p>“I don’t want anything, I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m sorry, but I have to get back to my farm, Peli, good seeing you.” Tossing a couple credits on the table to cover what you had drank, you rose and quickly walked out, hoping you could get lost in the sea of building surround the cantina before the mando could catch you.</p><p>Shit fuck, dammit it all. You had to get off this fucking planet, you couldn’t go back to your lodgings, you would have to come to grips with losing your wardrobe and the random holopads and trinkets you had picked up over the years. Fortunately, you had all your credits with you, your weapons and the puddle jumper was still parked in Peli’s back hanger, she would hold on to it until you could find someone to buy it while you were off world. Fuck, you were just starting to think you could put roots down in Mos Eisley. Fucking Mandalorians.</p><p>Scanning the streets, you tried to stay in the shadows as much as possible as you made your way to the hangers. Surely someone was taking off that could use an extra crew member, and if not…you thought you might have enough credits to buy passage to Ryloth or another close planet where you could get lost in the shuffle.</p><p>You had just reached the spaceport when a big hand reached from the shadows and slammed you into the side of an empty building. Your first instinct was to fight, and you threw out your elbow in an attempt to break the hold pressing you into the clay. All you got for your efforts was bruised arm and heavy metal plates pressing you hard against the building, both wrists caught in an iron grip. You tried to kick out, grunting when your knee slammed into more metal. Fuck, the armor covered his entire body.</p><p>“Why did you lie?”</p><p>“Let me go, you kriffing nerfherder, I don’t know what you are talking about,” you snarled, still struggling to get lose, even though it was evident it was useless. You considered screaming, but it was after dark in Mos Eisley. You were more than aware that no one would bother to investigate.</p><p>“Tell me what you know and I’ll think about it.” The voice was just as flat as it had been in the cantina and it infuriated you. The Mandalorian wasn’t even winded as he held you firm. Kriff, if you could only reach your blaster…you didn’t think it would actually help, but it would make you feel better. “Of course, you also have a puck out with your name on it, so it won’t be for long.”</p><p>“I already told you, I don’t know anything. Who the fuck raised you, accosting women in dark streets?” Panic seared through you at the thought of a bounty tracker out for you. Kriffing stars, this was just going from bad to worse every second.</p><p>A snort crackled through the vocoder. You stared into the helmet in astonishment. He thought this was <em>funny</em>? How dare he!</p><p>Almost, you considered lashing out with your powers to slam him against the wall behind you. Of course, that would give you away, but…if you hit him hard enough maybe you could knock him out? Maybe not with that helmet, but maybe you could stun him enough to get away. You were gathering yourself to try when a soft coo reminded you that he had a <em>fucking child with him.</em> You had done a lot of things in the name of self-preservation in your life, but you had always drawn the line at hurting a kid. You slumped against the wall, fully aware that he had you caught and there was no way you were going to get away.</p><p>“If I…if I <em>might</em> have some information that you could use, do you swear to let me go after?” you said through clenched teeth. Never hurt to ask, right? You might be able to make a run for it before he could throw you in a cell to take to whoever wanted you badly enough to put a tracker out for you.</p><p>The helmet surveyed you thoughtfully. Damn that visor, it gave you no indication of what he was thinking. Finally, it dipped once, just enough to indicate agreement, you hoped. But no, that was not enough. You didn’t trust him further than you could throw him and the idea that you could make him move even an inch made you want to laugh.</p><p>“Alright I…know of someone who might know of Jedi. Or at least he did when I knew him. A captain of a corellian freighter, makes runs to Coruscant on the regular. Goes by Harley, you can find him at the Blue Orobird cantina on Corellia when he isn’t off planet.” Maker help you, by the time he realized Harley was long dead after a run in with a bounty hunter, hopefully you would have disappeared into the Unknown Regions. There were plenty of uncharted planets out there, surely you could disappear without a trace out there.</p><p>“Alright, lets go.” The weight pressing you into the clay wall moved away, but before you could start fighting again, he had twisted your hands behind you and cuffs snapped in place around your wrists, effectively incapacitating you.</p><p>“What the fuck, you said you’d let me go!” you screeched, trying to twist out of the iron grip around your upper arm.</p><p>“Do you think I’m stupid enough to just let you go?” he said mildly, frog marching you back into the street and towards the hanger bays. “I don’t believe a word out of your mouth, I’ll let you go as soon as I verify your info. Just like I promised. I’ll even give you a fair shot of getting away before I take you in.”</p><p>“You bantha fucker, let me go!”</p><p>Anger filled you, coiled around your limbs and you felt the Force come without calling it. For the first time in your life, you embraced it, instinctively channeling the flow of power until it exploded out of you in a blast of power, not caring who was hurt in the blast. The panic of being caught, of someone stripping your hard-won freedom away outstripped your normal caution. The blast threw you forward and without the use of your hands to catch yourself you slammed into the ground, head bouncing off the rock. The last thing you saw was the Mando picking himself up and advancing towards you.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two: I Start To Wonder Is This Real Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Because being kidnapped and waking up in a prison cell really makes me comfortable,” you snapped. “How about you give me my blaster back, that’d make me more comfortable.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! So I am waiting on results from a covid test and I’m anxious as fuck about it and when I’m anxious I write, so you get an update! Hope you enjoy it, I’m really enjoying writing Reader as a snarky bitch, and I hope you enjoy it too!</p><p>Song Inspo: Being Evil Has a Price – Lucifer Theme Song Cover</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slowly the world came back in focus.</p><p>When you managed to open your eyes, you blinked in confusion. You were in a cell lined with durasteel on three sides, a wall of bars on the fourth, lying on a very uncomfortable cot. Your hands were still cuffed, but in front of you this time and you struggled to sit up with your hands bound.</p><p>“Easy witchling, you face planted pretty hard,” a female voice had you snapping up and scooting backwards until your shoulders hit the durasteel wall, ready to defend yourself from an attack. You had no way of defending yourself, not really, but you could still put up a good fight with your hands bound. Then you realized the voice came from the other side of the wall of bars. The woman who stood watching you was dressed in tight black clothes, her dark hair bound back in a multitude of small braids, twisted with red bands. It was pretty, and in another situation you would ask how she did it, you wanted to try it. But she was on the other side of the bars, and you were in here, clearly a prisoner and you would not be letting your guard down anytime soon. A small smile twisted her lips up and she raised her hands in an appeasing gesture. You didn’t trust it for a second.</p><p>“Where am I?” you demanded, in no mood for pleasantries. “Who are you? I demand you let me go.”</p><p>“Unfortunately, you aren’t in any position to be making demands, witchling,” she said lightly, resting a shoulder against the bars and crossing one leg over the other. You heard the faint whirr of electronics, but couldn’t make out where the noise came from. “My name is Fennec Shand. The boys thought you might be more comfortable talking to me, rather than the Buckethead or Bald and Grumpy.”</p><p>The names she gave her possible companions meant nothing to you, but you filed them away for future use. Drawing your legs up closer, you scooted towards the head of the bed to hunker down in the corner. “Because being kidnapped and waking up in a prison cell really makes me comfortable,” you snapped. “How about you give me my blaster back, that’d make me more comfortable.”</p><p>She snorted in amusement, which honestly was so insulting. “Nice try, but we both know you aren’t going to get a blaster. But I’ll remove those cuffs if you can give me some accurate information. The boss was the one to kill Harley Durant years ago, the intel you tried to buy your way out with is useless. So I really hope you have something else, or you are going to get thrown in a carbonite freezer and dropped off at the first guild center we find.”</p><p>Shit. Your head was pounding, but you ignored it as best you could while you tried to think your way out of this. Harley really <em>was</em> the only information you had, he had been the captain of your first ship and had been the one who had told you more about your powers, how the Jedi had used them before the Empire took over and wiped them out. He hadn't had powers of his own but he had known a few Jedi before they had fallen, and had been able to answer a few of the burning questions you had about the powers that had led to the destruction of your family.</p><p>“Mmmm, thanks but no thanks, that was all I had, you can just throw me in that freezer now,” you finally said. No way were you telling her about your own powers. You’d take your chances with whoever had put a bounty on your head. No idea who that was, but it had to be better than a ship full of idiots who were probably led by that nerfherder mando who had put you here.</p><p>Shand raised a well-manicured eyebrow. “See, I’m pretty sure you don’t want that, witchling. That display of yours put you on the map for every bounty hunter with a lick of sense, and there’s already a price on your head. So the only safe choice you have is cooperate with us, and you might find yourself set down on a nice out of the way planet eventually.”</p><p>Well. That was…quite an offer. Not that you trusted it for a second. No bounty hunter would give up a payday for a little info.</p><p>“Yeah, right, you’ll just let me walk out of here. Do you think I was born yesterday? Fuck off.”</p><p>The woman shrugged and stood up straight. “Suit yourself. We are touching down in Nevarro in 17 hours, I’ll let you think it over for a while.” Without a backward glance, she turned on her heel and left, leaving you to stew in your thoughts.</p><p>You waited until her footsteps faded away, the whoosh of a doorlock telling you she had left the area. Carefully, you made your way off the bed and stood up, taking stock of your surroundings, trying to come up with some sort of plan.</p><p>The cell was small, the width of the cot that was bolted to the wall and five paces wide, with a toilet and tiny sink set above it. That was it, nothing that you could use to escape. Dammit. At least it was better than being frozen in carbonite, but you weren’t sure how long it would be before the Mandalorian came back and threw you in it. You needed a plan.</p><p>You settled back in the corner of the cot, pulling your legs under you and fiddled with the empty knife sheathes strapped to your boots as you took stock. Your head was pounding, as was your face, and your shoulders and chest ached from hitting the ground. You felt around for the knives you kept hidden in your clothes and sighed. All gone, even the tiny throwing knives you kept wedged in your bra. You added that violation to the laundry list of reasons why you were going to hurt the Mandalorian for as soon as you got free.</p><p>Hours passed and you dozed on and off, exhausted from the adrenaline that had been coursing through your veins since you sat down at Peli’s table. Stars, you hoped she was okay. There was no one else down here with you, so you could only assume your captor had not gone back to take her with him.</p><p>The whoosh of the door opening again jarred you to awake and you struggled back into a sitting position, not willing to be caught in a vulnerable position. This time, the Mandalorian stalked in front of the bars and you sneered at the blank helmet. He didn’t say anything for the longest time and you refused to fall for the silent act, glaring at him and holding your tongue.</p><p>“Shand said you weren’t willing to talk,” he finally said, the voice through the vocoder flat and emotionless. You shrugged, still not willing to give in. Let him talk.</p><p>A sigh crackled through the helmet and you cocked your head in amusement at getting a reaction out of the man. Well, you assumed a man. He might be a droid under all that armor.</p><p>“Look, I don’t want to turn someone with powers like the kid over to the Imps, I know what they did to him and…its not good.” The mention of Imperials made your heart stop and you froze. Everyone knew the remnants of the Empire were still skulking around space and they were the last people you wanted to be turned over to. Maybe you should hear him out.</p><p>“What do you want from me, you know my intel is no good,” you said cautiously. The helmet tilted just the tiniest bit and you held your breath.</p><p>“You have…powers like the kid does,” he said slowly. “Someone…told me that there were maybe others like him that could train him. The deal is, train the kid to use his powers and I’ll let you out and…protect you. Keep you on as part of my crew. I can’t get rid of the bounty on your head, but I can…keep you safe. Like I have the kid.”</p><p>You mulled over his words. He was offering you freedom on a silver platter and all he wanted was for you to train his kid? No kriffing way that was all he wanted, there had to be a catch. <em>Had</em> to be. No one in the galaxy, let alone a <em>Mandalorian bounty hunter</em> was just going to free you and give up what was probably a substantial bounty if the Imperials were involved in exchange for some lessons for his little green son.</p><p>“Even if I <em>could </em>teach him, what’s the catch? Want me to suck your cock at your beck and call? Cause I promise you Mando, you don’t want to put something I’m sure you value quite a bit where I can bite it off.” You snapped your teeth at him to emphasis your point.</p><p>The helmet looked almost…insulted at your words.</p><p>“What-no, what the fuck?” Even the vocoder couldn’t hide the outrage in the Mandalorian’s voice and you couldn’t help the smirk that crossed your face. “No one is going to make you do…<em>that</em>, what kind of <em>demagolka</em> do you think… The Creed states he’s as my son until he’s of age or I return him to his kind. I’m not going to let you just take him back to Tatooine when you both have a bounty on your heads, so just…stay here and be safe and <em>help him.</em>”</p><p>You mulled over his words. It sounded like a really good deal, too good to be true. You didn’t trust it, and you had gotten pretty far in the galaxy by not trusting anyone.</p><p>“What if I can’t train him?” you snapped.</p><p>Stars, for a man that hid his face, he could be pretty expressive with that bucket of his. Right now, he was watching you with just as much suspicion as you watched him.</p><p>“I think we both know you have powers, that demonstration on Tatooine proved it. A Jedi…”</p><p>“I’m not a Jedi!” you snarled, automatically denying it as you had your entire life. The helmet tilted in question and you couldn’t stop yourself from adding, “I can’t…my <em>powers</em> as you call them aren’t something I was trained in, I just picked up things here and there. I’m not even sure <em>how</em> I did…what I did.”</p><p>“Just…teach him what you can, make sure he’s not a danger to himself, and that will be enough. Do we have a deal?”</p><p>Kriff, you didn’t really have a choice, did you? It was either agree and train the green thing as best you could or be turned over to the Imps, and he might as well shoot you with that fancy rifle over his shoulders right now if you chose the Imps. Your shoulders slumped and you nodded your head once.</p><p>“Fine. I’ll do it.”</p><p>The cuffs immediately clicked open and tumbled to the cot and you blinked in bewilderment as he opened the cell and extended a gloved hand to you.</p><p>“Welcome to the crew.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando’a Translation:<br/>Demagolka – someone who commits atrocities, a monster, a war criminal</p><p>Yay, she's in! I'll bring Boba in next chapter, and won't that be fun? Love ya, babies!</p><p>Visit me on Tumblr, I post a lot of memes and sometimes my weird writing thoughts! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three: You Make Me Want to Scream at the Top of My Lungs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Should have used your powers from the start, but not bad,” Fett mused, his scarred face indifferent. You weren’t sure what had caused such damage to his skin, but it was intimidating as hell. Intimidating, not hot at all, no sir. You refused to let yourself be attracted to your captors. “Should have used the electrodes though.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Balls and Sass are the order of the day and I regret nothing. We do not stan Gina Carano in this house(but we love Cara Dune).</p><p>Disclaimer, I am not a fighter, beyond whatever wrestling and self-defense moves you develop with two older brothers and a little LARPing, but I tried.</p><p>Song Inspo: Afraid - The Neighborhood</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You were already regretting your decision to work with the Mandalorian.</p><p>Well, that wasn’t true, but as you stared up at the ceiling of the main hull, you were definitely lamenting all your life choices that had led to an ex-shock trooper handing your ass to you without breaking a sweat, the smug bitch.</p><p>With a groan, you rolled over and pushed yourself back to your feet, searching for your electrostaff. It had rolled away to rest by the ramp and you quickly retrieved it before taking up a fighting stance. Your opponent, who had introduced herself as Marshal Dune but you were pretty sure had been Satan in another life, smirked at you and raised her staff again.</p><p>“Ready to tap out yet, Jedi?” she taunted, whirling the staff around her expertly. You snorted, not waiting to fall for her bait, but you couldn’t help it.</p><p>“Still not a Jedi, Rebel scum,” you replied and quickly sidestepped her advance. The sharp <em>whack</em> of wood on durasteel filled the space as you did your best to stay on your feet. You had held back using your powers like you normally would in combat, but that smirk was pissing you off.</p><p>You loaded your blows with a heavy dose of Force power and were satisfied when she flew back, unprepared for the power you threw at her. A fierce smile curved her lips and she came back with a powerful blow that you caught with your staff. Oh, it was on.</p><p>You traded blows back and forth, lacing each with more and more power as you forced her back, landing several blows that must have hurt from the grunts she let lose. But you were looking for the opening she had left last time.</p><p><em>There</em>. The smug bitch was leaving herself open every time she tried to sweep your legs and you were not going to fall for it this time. You feigned for her head when she went to sweep you, then lightning quick you spun and slammed your staff into her back, hooked her staff when she stumbled forward and caught it as it flew out of her hands.</p><p>“Not bad.”</p><p>Panting, you both turned to look at your audience. The Mandalorian and Shand were lounging against the wall, the weird green baby tucked securely in his father’s arms, but the fifth member of this strange crew was seated on some crates, legs spread wide and arms resting wide on the crates behind him, looking just like a king of some forgotten empire surveying his kingdom. The flowing black robes and deep green Mandalorian armor he wore only added to the image, his helmet resting at his side menacingly.</p><p>Boba Fett.</p><p>You had heard whispered tales of him for most of your life, spacers talked about him half in awe half in fear of the renown bounty hunter. He had disappeared years ago, and some had said he was dead, but clearly he wasn’t as he was the captain of this ship and yet didn’t quite seem to be the leader. He was the one who had insisted on putting you through your paces after two days of the five of you circling each other warily, you didn’t trust any of them for a second and they clearly returned the sentiment. So far the alien baby, <em>Grogu</em>, his father had supplied after the first time you had called him Frog, was really the only one who had welcomed you with open arms, eagerly showing off a silver ball that looked remarkably like it had been taken right off a ship’s control board. Shand seemed like someone you could come to be friendly with, she was the least standoffish of the crew. At least she shared her spotchka freely.</p><p>You had been running drills for a while, first hand-to-hand with Mando, a fight you had barely come out on top of, and only because he hadn’t expected you to play dirty and take a well-placed shot at his crotch. Then they had given you a set of knives, not nearly as nice as your own, you noted smugly, and had you hit the target over and over. You had thrown in a few trick shots at the end, bored of throwing the same way. You had been using knives since you were a child, as a game with your brother and the fact that the target could only be so far way because of the size of the ship was annoying, not allowing you to show off just how good you were. Now this bout with the she-devil and supposedly you would be expected to show off your shooting skills once the ship reached planetside, though you had not been trusted with the location, which, fair. You wouldn’t trust a newcomer with that info either, especially one with every incentive to bolt as soon as she could.</p><p>“Should have used your powers from the start, but not bad,” Fett mused, his scarred face indifferent. You weren’t sure what had caused such damage to his skin, but it was intimidating as hell. Intimidating, not hot at all, no sir. You refused to let yourself be attracted to your captors. “Should have used the electrodes though.”</p><p>“Hey, this was just a training bout,” Dune snapped, straightening and walking over to Shand, who handed her the bottle of spotchka she had been drinking from since you joined them in the hull.</p><p>“Any advantage,” Fett said solemnly. You found yourself agreeing. If you had used the full capabilities of the electrostaff, you would have taken Dune in the first round. But to be called out on it irritated you.</p><p>“You talk a lot of shit for an observer,” you snarked as you swiped the bottle from Dune and took a long pull. Aah, this was much better than the swill on Tatooine. Tasted like it was fresh. Wonder where they got it.</p><p>“Don’t push your luck little girl,” Fett said mildly, dark eyes boring into you. “I promise you won’t like the results.”</p><p>You snorted, but handed the bottle to Shand, resting your staff against the wall. “I’m sure. Any other tricks you want to see while I’m playing circus monkey?”</p><p>“Your powers,” the helmeted Mandalorian broke in, pushing off the wall. The alien baby babbled in his arms, entranced with his silver ball. “Let’s see what you can do without a weapon.”</p><p>Your first instinct was to shut that shit down hard. You had spent years hiding your powers, only using them when there was absolutely no way anyone could see. But…this is what you were here for. To use your powers and teach the frog baby. It only made sense they would want to see. Didn’t mean you had to like it.</p><p>Sighing, you looked around for something use in this ridiculous demonstration. Not that you had a ton of tricks mastered, but you had figured out a few things over the years.</p><p>Concentrating, you raised a hand and <em>yanked</em>, pulling the crates surrounding Fett towards you, smirking to yourself when the bounty hunter was forced to move or be clocked by one of the flying crates. You levitated the various boxes into a tower, then dismantled it, lining them up in a row. Carefully, sweat dripping down your back at the exertion, you reached out and pulled various small items off the walls, various tools and other standard ship junk like spare blankets, a couple of emergency lanterns, some gun cleaning supplies, and carefully arranged them in circles on top of the crates. You eyed your little platforms critically before deciding to go big or go home and twisted on your heel, extending a hand to one of the locked gun cabinets. With a flick of power, the doors flung open.</p><p>Knives of all shapes and sizes lined the walls of the cabinet as well as several small blasters, and you spotted your own assortment of tools and lifted them out, faster than your captors/crew members could stop you and sent them spinning into the staff still resting by Dune’s side, taking a sick pleasure when the woman flinched as the ten blades sunk deep into the wood.</p><p>Panting, you turned back to your audience and, in a fit of pique that would probably come back to bite you in the ass, dipped a little bow like an Inner Rim snob.</p><p>Fennec was the first to react, a bright laugh that surprised you bursting from the slim woman as she reached over and hefted the staff, examining the knife studded wood. Mando had stilled, one arm behind his back and a wicked looking blaster trained on you. Dune and Fett also had blasters in their hands, but only Dune lowered hers. The two Mandalorians stared you down, the fury in Fett’s face seeming to war with…admiration? You weren’t sure, but it seemed like it.</p><p>“Do <em>not</em>,” the helmeted Mandalorian’s words came out harsh and cruel through the vocoder and you had to force yourself not to flinch at his deadly tone, “do that again.”</p><p>“Hey you wanted to see a demonstration,” you argued, fully aware than you could have died for the stunt, but unable to stop yourself from mouthing off. These assholes held your life in the palm of their hands and frankly you didn’t care for being treated like such a threat. It wasn’t your fault you had been attacked, shackled and dragged aboard this tiny ass ship to be a tutor for a weird alien baby that you weren’t even sure how to train if it couldn’t even speak. “Lock picking and throwing knives were the first thing I mastered.”</p><p>“I like her,” Shand spoke up, passing the staff to Fett, who examined the knives closely before nodding to himself. “She’s got balls.”</p><p>“Thanks,” you said tightly, still locked in a face off with the shiny Mandalorian.</p><p>“Stupid move girl, but I like your spunk,” Fett finally said, putting his blaster away and tossing the staff to Dune who caught it and started pulling the knives out. She tucked them away in her belt and you couldn’t help the growl that slipped out.</p><p>“Those are mine and I’d appreciate them back,” you said tightly, gesturing to the Marshal. “You have no idea how long it took to get the balance right on them.”</p><p>“Too bad,” Mando finally said, holstering his own blaster and pulling the child from behind his back. The frog’s ears were flapping with excitement and he babbled at his father non-stop, pointing to the crates and junk you had arranged. “Stupid move, you’re not getting those back.”</p><p>Outraged, you take a step forward, but stopped when the Mando’s hand twitched toward his blaster again. It was one thing to show off during a demonstration that they had demanded, but you weren’t about to start something for real when four highly trained warriors were watching you like you were about to go full Sith in them. With a sigh that you hope conveyed <em>exactly</em> how put upon you were feeling, you stepped back and crossed your arms.</p><p>“Fine, keep them,” you said through clenched teeth. “I need a nap after all this nonsense. Wake me when you want to trot me out for more of this dog and pony show.” You stalked off in the direction of the cot you had been shown in the crew quarters, more than ready to rest after fighting all morning and then using the Force. It had been a long time since you had used so much power at once and it was exhausting.</p><p>Not even bothering to remove your boots, you fell face first into the cot. It was not comfortable at all, but you really didn’t care.</p><p>Before you could fall asleep, someone kicked your boot. You sprung up, ready to defend yourself. Shand merely smirked down at you, holding out the bottle of spotchka. You take it gratefully, deciding sleep was secondary to drinking. She was quiet as you pass the bottle back and forth a few times, leaning against the wall near your bunk, but you can tell she wanted to say something.</p><p>“I don’t know how much Mando told you, but he’s happy to have you on board,” she finally said, breaking the silence. You raise an eyebrow, not convinced. He had an odd way of showing happiness if a blaster to the face was how he expressed it.</p><p>“He’s been looking for a teacher for Grogu for a while,” she continued, passing back the bottle. “Someone told him he would have to turn the kid over to a stranger for training and…well that’s basically his kid. He was pretty cut up about giving him up.”</p><p>“He has an odd way of showing his gratitude,” you mumble, not willing to give in. The alcohol buzzed through your veins, loosening your muscles. She shrugged and took a big swig of the bright blue liquid. “Kidnapping me, throwing me in a cell.”</p><p>“Just…give it time. Mando is a hard man to get to know. You know he left me for dead the first time we met?”</p><p>You choke, shocked. He <em>shot </em>her and she was working with him? She grinned.</p><p>“Yeah, was working with some punk kid trying to collect my bounty, kid shot me and Mando thought I was dead so he left me in the sands of Tatooine. Fett found me and patched me back up. Not with original parts, but at least I’m alive.” She pulled aside her clothes to show you her abdomen full of electronics and wires. You remained quiet, staring at the gears. You couldn’t imagine the damage that was done if her entire abdomen was replaced with electronics. “I swore to Fett when I was healed and helped him get his armor back. We helped Mando get the kid back from the Imps after we got what we wanted. He’s a good man, just…well its not my place to tell you his life story, but be patient. He’ll come around. He loves that kid and he really didn’t want to turn you over to the Imps after what they did to the kid. It was…not pleasant.”</p><p>You nodded contemplatively as she rearranged her clothes. Maybe their little crew wasn’t as bad as you thought they were. Still no excuse for throwing you in a cage, but you could understand wanting to keep a child safe. You had done many things in your life to keep kids safe. She took the bottle back and downed the last of the liquor before pushing off the wall and turning away.</p><p>“Just…try to remember that everything he does, its because he loves that kid more than anything in the galaxy. And he’s true to his word, he’ll keep you safe.”</p><p>“Don’t need anyone to keep me safe but myself,” you mutter, settling back on your bunk as the alcohol and training took its toll. “Been on my own for long enough.”</p><p>Her quiet laugh chased you into your dreams, but her last words stuck with you long after you woke up.</p><p>“Of course you don’t Witchling. But sometimes its not us we need to keep safe, but the people helping us.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm finally awake for more than 30 minutes at a time! And I finally managed to get some writing done. IDK how I feel about this chapter, but I rewrote it like 3 times and this was the best one. I hope everyone enjoys it!</p><p>Come find me on Tumblr! @Aerinkebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Four: We're Stuck in the Middle of Lovers and Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The kid turned his head to plead with his father and from the corner of your eye you saw the Mandalorian shake his head. The ball was ripped from your hand and back into the kid’s hands with a mutinous scowl at you. You smiled. Stubborn little thing.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has read my scribbles and loved them. I know authors say this all the time, but kudos and comments really do make us feel so loved. I write because it makes me happy, but it gives me so much joy that so many people love this story about these three fucksticks as much as I do. You the real ones!</p>
<p>Song Inspo: Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You stood about ten paces away from the kid, eyeing him curiously. Dark bulbous eyes stared back, ears flicking up and down in curiosity.</p>
<p>You had touched down on this little scughole two days ago, after dropping Dune off on Nevarro and had been allowed to join the others when they went to mingle with the residents of a tiny backwater village. Shand said the planet was called Sorgan, but the name had not rung a bell. It was truly as far off the map as you could get, the village didn’t even have a holonet connection. But at least you had solved the mystery of the top notch spotchka.</p>
<p>A friendly woman named Omera, who kept making eyes at Mando which struck you as hilarious for some reason, had shown you to a barn of all places, but it had a bed and sort of a door and they fed you at regular intervals, so all in all, not the worst place you had ever been. You had been asked to do some target practice the first day, and after hitting the target again and again at various distances, Mando had grudgingly given you your blasters and staff back. Still no knives, but you would get them back eventually, even if you had to steal them out of the weapons cabinet.</p>
<p>Today was the first day you were supposed to start training the kid and you knew Mando lurked somewhere behind you. Fett was more obvious in his oversight, he had planted himself on some wooden crates nearby and started cleaning a truly impressive amount of weapons that he pulled from seemingly nowhere, the threat not lost on you. The connection between the two Mandalorians confused you, you had seen them retire to the captain’s bunk on the ship and seen a few touches pass between the two on occasion, but they had taken separate quarters planetside and Mando didn’t seem to be doing much to turn away Omera’s interest for having a steady lover. Maybe it was a match made on convenience while in space? Well, not your business, you were just here to train the kid and get out as soon as you could.</p>
<p>“Are you going to do anything or just stand there?”</p>
<p>Mando’s monotone voice cut through the quiet and the baby’s ears lifted at his father’s voice. You sighed heavily and turned to the warrior behind you.</p>
<p>“If you have a better idea, by all means try. I’m just not sure where to start. The kid can’t even speak, what could I possibly teach him?”</p>
<p>Instead of answering you, he dug the ball the kid was enamored with out of a belt pouch and held it up. “Grogu, take it.”</p>
<p>Almost immediately, the ball lifted from his gloves and you watched as it soared to the baby’s hands. You were shocked, you had no idea the kid could do that.</p>
<p>“Well, that’s one place to start,” you admitted grudgingly. Focusing on the kid again, you held out your hand.</p>
<p>“Alright kid, can you send that to me?” The kid ignored you, cooing at the ball instead. “Hey kid, I’m trying to help you. Can you send it back to me?” The ears turned down and he let out a little noise that seemed like a whine. Carefully, you reached out and plucked the ball from him, bringing it to your hand. He squawked indignantly and reached out tiny hands to get it back. You shook your head and held out your hand. “Take it back.”</p>
<p>The kid turned his head to plead with his father and from the corner of your eye you saw the Mandalorian shake his head. The ball was ripped from your hand and back into the kid’s hands with a mutinous scowl at you. You smiled. Stubborn little thing.</p>
<p>“Okay, you didn’t like that. How about this, want something to eat?” You took a piece of dried meat you had saved from breakfast and held it out. Interest sparked in the kid’s eyes and before you could say anything it had floated over to him and disappeared down his throat. You laughed, thrilled by his antics. “Want to try again?”</p>
<p>This went on for a while, you coaxing him to take pieces of meat from your hand with the Force and him happily devouring the offerings. Before long however, you could tell his interest was waning and you decided to switch it up. Holding out the last piece, you curled your fingers around it before he could call it over.</p>
<p>“Lets see if you can catch it.” You levitated the piece of meat and sent it zooming around the clearing you were practicing in, watching the kid’s eyes follow his treat. You sent it to dance around Fett’s head, smirking when the man batted it away before calling it back to wiggle between you and your student. You felt it when he grabbed hold, tugging at your hold. You let him wrestle with you for a moment before you released your hold and let him have his reward. He stuffed it in his mouth and blinked sleepy eyes at you. You agreed, you were tired too.</p>
<p>“Alright kid, I think that’s enough for today. You look like you need a nap.” You took a step towards him, but Mando was there before you could reach him, swooping him up and tucking the kid against this chest. The kid snuggled close and closed his eyes, looking all the world like the beskar chestplate was the softest pillow in the universe. Your heart tugged a little at the sight, you were human after all. The sight of the fearsome warrior cradling the tiny baby like he was the most precious thing in the world did something to your insides, but you pushed it away. You were not going to feel anything for this man who had kidnapped you.</p>
<p>“Well, I think for a baby he has pretty good control,” you said quietly, watching them. Mando turned to you and you once again found yourself wondering what was going on behind that helmet. You didn’t understand the ins and outs of the Mandalorians, why Fett could take his helmet off but Mando couldn’t. Maybe if you stuck around long enough you would learn, but for now his lack of expression was frustrating.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” he said softly. You blinked in surprise. You hadn’t been expecting his gratitude. Maybe Shand was on to something. “Grogu…he’s special. And he deserves to learn how to use his powers.” You nod before looking away.</p>
<p>“Don’t mention it. Maybe I can teach the little guy how to unlock doors next.”</p>
<p>“Be better if you can teach him how to tell the difference between wires,” Fett spoke up and you both turned to look at the older man, who chuckled at his own words for some reason. “Less electrical issues that way.”</p>
<p>You didn’t understand the joke, but you let it go. You decided to join him in cleaning your gear, you hadn’t had a chance since Tatooine and were sure the blasters were full of sand. Without asking permission, you pulled up a crate to his makeshift table and laid out your blasters. You disassembled the blaster, ignoring the quiet conversation the two men had before Mando walked off, presumably to put the kid down for a nap. You smiled to yourself as you saw Omera appear and join the Mandalorian. You fell into a quiet pattern with Fett, cleaning parts and stealing his cleaning supplies.</p>
<p>“Surely you have your own kit,” he eventually said as you stole the gun oil for the fourth time. You smiled placidly.</p>
<p>“I did, but your friend kidnapped me before I could get any of my stuff,” you shot back, polishing the barrel of your DL-44.</p>
<p>“We’re going back to Tatooine eventually, you can get your stuff then,” he said calmly, taking back the oil. You watched him as he reassembled a pulse rifle, scarred hands graceful in routine movements. “Mando’s ship should be done by then and you can join him while he goes back to bounty hunting.”</p>
<p>This caught your attention; you had assumed they were all one crew and traveled the galaxy together. No one had said anything about splitting up.</p>
<p>“What about you and Shand?” you asked, curiosity getting the better of you.</p>
<p>“We have business on Tatooine, now that the kid has you to train him.” Was the gruff reply. You nodded, thinking quickly. If you were going to Tatooine, there might be a chance you could sneak off and take your ship to a nearby planet. Peli wouldn’t get rid of your ship anytime soon, you were paid up for at least a few more weeks. Fett pinned you with a cold stare.</p>
<p>“Whatever you are thinking about, stop it. Mando has offered you his protection and that’s the best offer you are going to get. If the Imps are after you, you do not want to fall into their hands.”</p>
<p>“Everyone keeps saying they did something horrible to the kid and they want to do the same to me, what the hell were they doing?” you snapped. Fett put his gun down and stared at you expressionlessly.</p>
<p>“They were experimenting on the kid, because of his powers,” he said simply, and a shiver ran down your spine. Experimenting on…Force users? “From what we could gather, they were using his blood in some sort of experiment. But if you want to find out for yourself, be my guest, try to make it on your own. You’ve got skills, but you’ve got a 50,000 credit bounty on your head and every bounty hunter in the sector will be looking to collect. Think you have the skills to fight them all off?”</p>
<p>No, you did not. 50,000 credits was an insane amount, how the fuck did they even know enough about you to put that kind of price on your head. Maybe it would be worth it to stay with Mando and teach Grogu what little you could…for now. Deciding to change the subject, you jerked your head in the direction the other Mandalorian had gone.</p>
<p>“So you and Mando huh?” you said cheekily. He levelled a stare at you and you sat back, satisfied that you had won…well something, and returned to disassembling your boot blaster.</p>
<p>*****</p>
<p>Two weeks passed in a quiet routine. You would wake up, have breakfast with Shand and Fett, Mando was always nearby with the kid, but you hadn’t ever seen him eat. Maybe he really was a droid. After, you would take the kid and work with him in the Force, levitating, retrieving and pushing away objects, you had found a decommissioned lock port on the ship that you managed to get working with some tinkering and started to show the kid how to manipulate the pressure triggers inside.</p>
<p>You usually worked with the kid for a few hours, or until he got tired and grumpy, when his dad would swoop in and take him for a nap. You’d find some lunch then usually spend the afternoons training. Shand turned out to be a fantastic sparring partner and you enjoyed wrestling with her or practicing with your electrostaff. Some days Fett joined you, and you had come to enjoy those days. The man was built to be a brawler, thick muscled everywhere and he knew how to use his strength to dominate. It was easy to see why he was as feared as he was, you were good but you had never won a match against him.</p>
<p>If you found yourself with nothing to do, sometimes you would join Omera and the villagers in their krill farming. You had had a lot of odd jobs over the years and were used to staying busy, what better way to kill time and earn your keep. Plus, it was kind of fun to try to catch the luminescent blue crustaceans, and it was rewarding to drink the spotchka that they were turned into at the end of the day with Shand.</p>
<p>The woman, for all her outward stoicism, was funny and you had come to enjoy her company. Every night you found yourself around a fire with your crew and the villagers, passing a bottle of liquor around and trading war stories. Mando never partook, he never took his helmet off, but he could be coaxed into telling one or two stories about his bounty hunting every now and then. You found yourself impressed by the stories they all told, you considered yourself well-travelled since you had escaped Arkanis when you were thirteen and had been alone and shiftless ever since. But the stories they told far outshone yours.</p>
<p>You learned where Fett had been for all the years he had been missing, how he escaped a fucking sarlacc pit and rescued Fennec. She in turn, had everyone rolling when she described how she had carried out an assassination on Bespin and shot a man through an open window as he was going at it with his young mistress. Then Omera told the story of how Mando and Dune had helped save the villager from raiders and you found yourself looking at Mando in a new light, one not tainted by the anger of being captured. The camaraderie you felt for the three grew and you found yourself enjoying your time with them. Maybe being picked up on Tatooine wasn’t so bad after all.</p>
<p>On the last day, after you had wrapped up with Fennec and were gulping down a canteen of water, Fett strolled over to join the two of you.</p>
<p>“Up for one last round?” he said casually and you cocked an eyebrow at him. He had taken to leaving his armor on the ship and wore only the black, flowing under-robes that seemed to be part of his uniform. You shrugged and tossed Fennec the canteen, taking up a fighting stance. You had yet to beat him in hand to hand, and your competitive streak was riding you hard to win.</p>
<p>It started out like it always did, circling each other and looking for an opening. You were carefully drawing the Force to you, ready for it to power your blows like you had done the last few times you had sparred.  You were happy to let him come to you, waiting for the first blow. It came lighting fast, a strike to your side that you dodged and threw an elbow punch in return. Using the Force you managed to hold your own and the bout dragged on, trading blows and punches. Suddenly he tackled you and you landed on your back with a grunt. Oh he wanted to play it that way?</p>
<p>Wrestling quickly turned to a no holds brawl and you found yourself rolling around in the dirt with the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, blood singing in your veins as you struggled to pin him. He had probably a hundred pounds of muscle on you, but you had the Force and you were reasonably sure you were going to win once you managed to flip him over and bind his hands above his head. Sitting up to pin his legs you grinned fiercely, sure of your victory. Then he did something with his legs that had you tipping over and he was on you again, grabbing both hands and pinning them, legs tangled in yours to keep you still. Panting, you glared up at him, unwilling to ask for mercy, wiggling as much as you could to try to free a limb to push him off with the Force. Then you felt it, a thick, throbbing length in his pants that was definitely not his legs. You froze, staring up at him in confusion.</p>
<p>“Fett…” you started, but he cut you off, leaning down to catch your lips in a bruising kiss that startled you and had all the fight leaching out of you. Your blood was up and you couldn’t deny you were attracted to the older man, so you gave in and kissed him back, the fight returning as you tried to take control of the kiss.</p>
<p>“Guys, there’s kids around, stop humping in the middle of the village.” Fennec’s sarcastic tone broke through the lust that was searing through you and you broke away, suddenly realizing your hands were free and buried in his shirt.</p>
<p>With a yelp, you pushed him away with the Force and sat up, panting and confused. Fennec was watching the two of you with an amused smirk on her face and you felt the blood rushing to your face to heat your skin. Fortunately there was no one else around, the clearing you had appropriated for training was a little distance away from the village, but the situation you found yourself in was new and confusing. You scrambled to your feet, refusing to look at Fett and hurried to grab your gear before walking away, determined to get back to your barn before you fell apart in confusion, ignoring the both of them calling your name as you ran away.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So Chapter 4 was turning into a honking big boy, literally I'm at over 6k words and its not done. I had to find a way to split it up, so I'm kind of sorry for the ending, but not really. Chapter 5 will be up as soon as I'm done!</p>
<p>Come talk with me on Tumblr! My message box is always open! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Five: You're Like Lightnin' in a Bottle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fuck, it had been a while since you had slept with anyone, the pickings were slim in Tatooine unless you were willing to fuck an Rodian or the occasional spacer that came through.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sure yall noticed I removed the slow burn tag, because two of our friends are horndogs. Ha! Enjoy!</p>
<p>Song Inspo: Electric Love - Bjorn</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>What the fuck, what the fuck, the actual fuck just happened,</em> you asked yourself as you beat a hasty retreat. Had it really been that long since you had fucked someone that a simple wrestling match made you lose your head to lust or were you just plain stupid? Fett was off limits, not only because he was part of the crew that had literally kidnapped you, even if you had forgiven them for the most part, but because he was obviously fucking Mando. You were many things, but you weren’t going to be used as a pawn in whatever game he was clearly playing.</p>
<p>Storming into the barn, you threw your staff down and collapsed onto the bed, burying your head in your hands and pressing your palms into your eyes. Stupid girl, <em>stupid girl,</em> what the hell did you think you were doing? It didn’t matter how good of a kiss it had been, and Maker is had been <em>good</em>. Like most things, Fett was an incredible kisser and you had felt it down to your fucking toes, the way he dominated your senses and made you want to submit and let him do whatever he wanted to you. You groaned and flopped back on the bed, thoughts spiraling round and round.</p>
<p>You could still feel the way his erection had felt pressed into your core, thick and hot even between two layers of clothes, how his hips had rolled into yours and had teased you with the offered pleasure. Fuck, it had been a while since you had slept with anyone, the pickings were slim in Tatooine unless you were willing to fuck an Rodian or the occasional spacer that came through. Your fingers drifted down your tummy and pressed against your clit through your pants, already damp from your slick, rubbing slightly before you gave in and shoved them under the fabric. You moaned when you drug your fingers through your slit, gathering the moisture there and using it to coat your clit as you rubbed it, allowing yourself to let your mind drift back to how it felt to be pinned by Fett, how his heavy body had felt pressing down on yours as he kissed you and rubbed against you. You were just starting to feel the heat of your release gathering when you heard arguing outside the barn.</p>
<p>You whipped your hand out of your pants, sitting up and trying to catch your breath as you composed yourself and tried to listen to what was going on outside. It sounded like Fennec was berating Fett for his actions and you loved her just a little for taking your side. Not that you hadn’t been a willing participant, but surely there were better places to start going at each other than in the wide open where anyone could see you.</p>
<p>Your pride wouldn’t allow you to keep hiding, even if you had run away before. You had just been startled and overwhelmed, but you were a grown woman dammit, and you could make your own choices. You weren’t going to be a coward and run away anymore, you had to talk to the man and figure out what the hell he had been thinking. Taking a deep breath to compose yourself, you walked outside and found them standing just outside. Fett didn’t look amused by Fennec’s haranguing, but they fell silent when you appeared.</p>
<p>“Thanks Fennec, but I think I can take it from here,” you said with far calmer than you actually felt. She sniffed and glared at Fett one more time before turning on her heel and stalking off. You looked around to make sure Mando was no where nearby, because this was going to be a hard enough conversation without bringing Droidbrains into it and grabbed Fett’s arm, dragging him into your barn. You were surprised when he came willingly, but the curious look on his face fell away when you slammed him into the wall and pressed a forearm to his throat.</p>
<p>“What. The Fuck. Was that,” you snarled, trying your best to ignore how he felt as you pressed against him. You were well aware that he was only staying put because he was allowing you to man handle him, but you would take it for now. Now that you had had a chance to get your thoughts together, and fueled by an interrupted orgasm, you were mad.</p>
<p>“Don’t tell me that’s the first fight that’s ended in making out,” he said easily, the smirk on his lips just fueling your rage. You pressed harder against his throat, just for the pleasure of seeing him struggle for breath.</p>
<p>“Of course not,” you spat. “But what the fuck did you think you were doing? We…you aren’t…aren’t you fucking Mando?” You were scrambling and he knew it, the heat of his body and the fact that you could feel his cock stiffening against your leg again making your thoughts scatter. Maker, you knew had to clear this up before you did anything else, but you really just wanted to kiss him again, wanted to throw him on the bed and fight him control as you fucked. Just from that one kiss you knew he would have you sore and aching in a good way for days and stars above, you wanted it, no matter how fucked up that was. You struggled to remind yourself that he was party to you being stuck on this shitty backhole basically being forced to train Mando’s weird green child, but all you could remember was that, as fierce and ruthless as he was, he had saved Fennec, had built her back piece by piece and brought her back to life. How gentle he was with the child, how he played with the kids in the village and how kind he had been to you, in his own brusque way. Fuck, no, stay focused.</p>
<p>“Mando and I have an agreement, but that doesn’t stop me from fucking someone else,” he said calmly, voice rough with lust. You glared into his dark eyes, searching for a lie. “You think he isn’t balls deep in that pretty widow whenever he gets the chance? He’s halfway to taking that bucket off and staying with her, nothing I do is going to stop him. I want to fuck you and you clearly…” he rolled his hips into your and you bite back a curse when you felt yourself get wetter at the friction, “…want me too. Why are your fighting it?”</p>
<p>“Because it doesn’t make sense!” You cried and tore yourself away, stepping back and eyed him, unable to stop the way your chest heaved as you panted from desire. “It doesn’t make sense, why me? I’m practically your captive, your whole crew has made it clear that I am only here because I’m useful, why me and not…I don’t know, Fennec?”</p>
<p>He snorted and adjusted himself, and your eyes followed his hand down to the large bulge in his pants before you could stop yourself. You shook your head to rid yourself of the dangerous thoughts that bubbled to the surface and glared at him.</p>
<p>“Fennec isn’t into men,” he said calmly, though his rough voice was still laced with lust. “And I’ve never been one to turn away from an attractive woman, especially one who can hold her own in a fight. You are not a captive, you are free to leave at any time, but I hope you are aware of the danger you would be in if you did. Why not take advantage of what’s offered?” His hand rose to snag your chin and he forced your head up to look him in the eye. “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll walk out that door and we’ll never bring this up again.”</p>
<p>You met his gaze steadily and found no lie in his dark depths. He would walk away and this tension between you would go unanswered, you could leave here with nothing more than a memory of a kiss that had threatened to tear you apart. Your thoughts raced, trying to figure out exactly what you wanted.  You didn’t deny that you found him attractive, the scars across his face did something to you and you often found yourself wondering just how far they extended. The power you knew he held in his muscled frame called to you, and really, how bad would it be to have a one night stand, especially if he and Fennec were leaving your little posse in a few days. Your arms lifted without your brain directing them, coming to rest on his chest and fist in his black shirt.</p>
<p>“Just tonight,” you found yourself saying before you surged up and captured his lips in a vicious kiss.</p>
<p>His arms came up to crush you to his chest and he gave as good as you gave, fighting you for dominance. You shoved your tongue in his mouth and moaned when he explored your mouth, seeking to dominate the wet space. You felt your shirt bunching and broke away to tear it off and hurried to push his off as well, marveling when the tan expanse of his chest was exposed to you, dragging your nails across the scarred skin and reveling in his sharp intake of breath. You reached up to capture his lips again as his hands worked to unlatch your bra and the material fell away, moaning when he cupped your breasts and played with your tightening nipples.</p>
<p>You were desperate for more of his touch, the arousal that had been ebbing away in your previous anger returning in full force as his thick length ground against your tummy, reminding you of the way it had felt pressed against your pussy after your brawl. You felt the wetness gathering in your pussy and moaned again, hooking a leg around his hips as you sought that friction. He responded by picking you up and wrapping your legs around his hips, never breaking the kiss. A bolt of arousal shot through you at the display of strength and you ground against him, not caring that your panties were drenched and he could surely feel the heat of your core against him. He groaned as he matched you move for move and suddenly you felt him moving, quickly crossing the room to drop you on the bed.</p>
<p>You bounced against the thin mattress before hurrying to lose your boots and pants, tossing them to some unknown area of the room. He loomed over you, breathing just as hard as you did as he looked you over, taking in every inch of your bared flesh. You let him, comfortable in your skin, and arched your back to thrust your breasts out, craving his touch again. With a rough growl that just did something to you, he crawled on top of you and thick fingers found their way into your sopping pussy. You cried out at the intrusion, and he laughed cruelly as he moved his fingers in and out of you, gathering your wetness to pull out and circle your clit.</p>
<p>“Is all this for me, little one,” he rumbled as he teased you, and you found yourself whimpering in agreement. You had been close before he and Fennec had interrupted earlier and it didn’t take long before he had you shuddering under him, your release breaking across you in waves. You lay back panting as he stood to shuffle off his pants and rejoined you on the bed.</p>
<p>Maker, if you had known he was hiding a cock like that under the flowing robes his favored you would have initiated this much sooner. He was <em>thick</em>, blunt head leaking precum and you reached out to wrap a hand around him, smearing the fluid across his head and pumping up and down a few times. The deep groan he let slip spurred you on and you urged him to lie down so you could ease between his legs and lean down to lick his head. Thick fingers buried themselves in your hair and that was all the encouragement you needed to open your mouth and take him in, easing him into your warm mouth. He was too big to take all at once and you used your hand to pump what couldn’t fit, taking your cues from the rough encouragement that spilled from his lips.</p>
<p>“Maker, you were made for this, weren’t you little one?” he rasped as you bobbed up and down, attempting to take more of him down your throat. He thrust his hips up and you gagged as too much went down, but you soldiered on, determined to hear more of his filthy words. “Look at you, so hungry for my cock. I think you can take all of it, can’t you <em>cyar’ika</em>?” You whined in agreement and redoubled your efforts to swallow as much as possible, pressing forward until your nose was buried in his pubic hair. You tried to breathe as much as you could through your nose and he held your head down as he thrust up, trying to bury himself deeper in your throat. Maker, you could feel yourself getting wet again, slick dripping down your thighs and you reached down to play with your clit, chasing another high as he fucked your throat. </p>
<p>“Fuck little one, I need to be inside you, want to bury myself in that sweet pussy,” he rasped and suddenly he was lifting you off him and had flipped you both over, lining his cock up with your entrance and thrusting forward. You cried out at the sudden intrusion and clawed at his chest, wanting to fight back but too overwhelmed to fight too much as he held still, allowing you to adjust. After a moment you whined and wiggled under him, eager for the hard fucking he had promised.</p>
<p>“Please Fett, Boba fuck me,” you whined, lifting your hips as much as you could and clenching around him to spur him on. He took your words to heart and pulled out until his head was all that was left inside you and slammed back in, wringing a harsh cry from you. He set a bruising pace, fingers gripping your hips as he hammered into you, driving you higher and higher towards a fast-approaching orgasm.</p>
<p>“Fuck fuck, I’m so close,” you gasped, words cut off as he leaned down to kiss you again, tongue invading your mouth again as he pounded into you, hands once again playing with your neglected tits. You stiffened as your orgasm hit you hard when he shifted and slammed into that spot inside you that made you see stars and you cried into his mouth, wrung dry. He moved inside you as your pussy spasmed, groaning as he felt you tighten around him. As your orgasm faded, he pulled out and you whined at the loss of contact, until he flipped you over and manhandled you onto your hands and knees, and you arched your back when you settled, eager for him to enter you again.</p>
<p>“So good for me, little one, so eager for my cock,” he groaned as he eased back inside and you let your head drop as he hit that spot again, the new angle deeper and stretching you. “Do you think you have one more? I want to feel you squeeze me as you come again.” You could only agree as he started thrusting, fingers gripping your hips so tightly you were sure you were going to have bruises later. He kept hitting that spot and impossibly, you felt yourself barreling towards another orgasm. You whined and let your chest fall against the bed so you could reach back to play with your clit again and he growled, batting your hand away to replace your fingers with his callused hand, rubbing and circling you higher and higher. You let your face fall into the pillow to muffle your screams.</p>
<p>Your release broke and you felt yourself go limp as he continued to pound into you, growling filthy epileths as you milked him and he was dragging you up to whisper in your ear, “Can I come in you, <em>cyar’ika</em>? I want to fill you up so bad, can I?” You couldn’t find the words to answer, so you grabbed his hand and pressed it into the small scar in your shoulder where your implant rested. With a groan, he sped up, jack hammering into you before he stilled deep inside you and you moaned when you felt the warm gush of spend filling you.</p>
<p>He collapsed on top of you and you let yourself savor the weight of him as he stayed in place, softening cock still inside of you as your mixed fluids leaked out. With a groan he eventually rolled over and you whined at the loss of him before he tucked you close to his side and rough fingers buried in your hair to scratch your scalp. You found yourself leaning into it like a lothcat and if you could purr, you were sure you would be.</p>
<p>“Fuck, that was good,” you eventually said into his chest and his response was a rumble of words that were lost in your stupor. “Who knew the feared bounty hunter Boba Fett liked to snuggle?”</p>
<p>“Don’t tell anyone or it will ruin my reputation,” he joked and you laughed and sat up, stretching and enjoying the faint ache in your muscles. You swung your legs over the side of the bed and went in search of a fresh set of clothes. You threw a glance over your shoulder as you wiggled into a pair of pants and saw he was watching you dress with hooded eyes, an arm thrown pillowing his head as he unashamedly stretched out naked in your bed.</p>
<p>“Are you going to get up or just going to stay there all night?” you quipped, finding his clothes and tossing them to him. “Come on, dinner should be ready soon and I’m starving.” He shrugged and stood, not bothering to put anything before he caught you by the waist and drew you close for a slow kiss. You allowed yourself to melt into it, twining your arms around his neck to pull him closer. Before long you broke away and motioned to his clothes. “None of that, or we are going to miss dinner.”</p>
<p>“<em>Cyar’ika</em>, I’d like to do that again before we drop you off on Tatooine,” he said as he got dressed and you paused in getting your hair in order to turn back to him.</p>
<p>“I would like that too, but…”</p>
<p>“Don’t think about the others, little one,” he said as he leaned down to press another quick kiss against your lips. “They don’t matter. I enjoyed that and I like to think you did too. Lets just enjoy what we can while we can.” You nodded and busied yourself straightening his clothes and your own so it didn’t look like you had just taken an afternoon romp in the sheets.</p>
<p>“Okay. But first, bounty hunter, lets go find some food. I have plans for you that are going to require some sustenance first.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando'a translation:<br/>Cyar'ika: Sweetheart, darling</p>
<p>So that happened. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Look out for Chapter 6 soon!</p>
<p>Come find me on Tumblr! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter Six: Why Don't We Get a Little High</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fennec trailed after you, a guard you had argued with Mando over until you were blue in the face, but the droid in beskar armor had remained firm. You had a hefty bounty on your head and he was determined to keep you as safe as he could. So you had gracelessly agreed to bring Fennec with you, only after he gave you your knives back.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To clear things up, since I had a couple comments on it, at this point in the story, Reader is still VERY wary of Mando. She’s warmed up to Fennec and Boba(obviously, lmaooo) and she has softened up after spending two weeks on Sorgan with the gang and seeing how he is with Grogu, but she is still very much not pro-Mando. I hope that clears up some confusion! Love you babies!</p><p>Song Inspo: High – Whethan and Dua Lipa</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the Slave I touched down on Tatooine, you were the first down the ramp, eager to make sure your things were still in your old lodgings. Fennec trailed after you, a guard you had argued with Mando over until you were blue in the face, but the droid in beskar armor had remained firm. You had a hefty bounty on your head and he was determined to keep you as safe as he could. So you had gracelessly agreed to bring Fennec with you, only after he gave you your knives back.</p><p>The two of you chatted as you walked through the dusty streets of Mos Eisley, stopping occasionally at various booths to peruse the wares for sale. When you reached your rented lodgings, you had argued with the landlord for a spare key, pointing out repeatedly that you were paid up until the end of the month and you still had two days until that deadline. Eventually the crotchety old man had given you a spare, muttering rude things about you as you turned away. You rolled your eyes, used to the man’s disgust, and hurried to your rented rooms. Fennec had insisted on scoping out the area before she allowed you entry, but everything was just as you had left it, clothes scattered across the bedroom, holobooks stacked precariously by the bed, your blaster cleaning kit spread out on the rickity kitchen table. Quickly, you gathered your possessions before taking one last look around the two rooms that had been your home.</p><p>“It’s weird, giving up what little I had here to follow Mando around the galaxy,” you commented to Fennec as you left, tossing the spare to the landlord as you passed.</p><p>“The Crest isn’t a bad ship,” she said calmly as the pair of you wound your way through the streets to the shipyards. “Just don’t let Mando bully you into taking the spare cot, its murder on the back.” You laughed with her as you approached Hanger 3-5. You had been surprised when Mando had given you Peli’s hanger number to return to, but now that you thought about it, maybe not so odd. He was familiar with Peli, and she was arguably the best mechanic in the city, for all she was irritable as shit and cheated at sabacc. Plus, it cut down on your errands, since your own ship was parked there. Hopefully she would know someone who would want to buy it off you.</p><p>“Well look what the lothcat dragged in,” the tiny woman greeted you when you and Fennec set foot in the hanger. “Thought I had seen the last of you after Mando went after you. Hope you got a pocket full of credits, I’ve been on a hot streak for days.”</p><p>“The only reason you are on a hot streak is because you cheat, Peli,” you retorted, smiling. Fennec disappeared quickly and you nodded to the hulking ship in the main hanger bay. “That Mando’s ship?”</p><p>“Yeah, now don’t let him go blowing holes in her again,” she said tartly, following you as you approached the open ramp. “I’ve put this piece of junk back together so many times I don’t think she has any of the original parts left. I know you are a decent mechanic, try to keep your Mando from destroying the wiring again, okay girl?”</p><p>“He’s not my anything,” you hissed. “I’m just tagging along to teach his son.”</p><p>“Ah, the only reason I allow him to park his junker here,” she said, voice dipping low and sweeter than you had ever heard it. “If you ever come across another, remind Mando I want one.”</p><p>You nodded, examining the inside of the ship. Maker, she wasn’t joking about it being a junker. It didn’t look like much from the outside, impressive weapons array aside, and it <em>really</em> didn’t look like much on the inside either. The entire hull was patched, you could see where Peli had had to weld new siding in, and a quick glance in the engine bay had you sighing. You hoped Mando would let you work on the ship a little, it needed a decent overhaul at least. Dropping your things just inside the open bunk, remembering Fennec’s advice, you turned back to the mechanic.</p><p>“You still have the <em>Sparrow,</em> right?”</p><p>She waved you off and led you down the ramp again to the side hanger, where your ship sat. “Yeah, and I fixed that fuel line leak, she’s good as new. You planning on doing anything with her, I need the space.”</p><p>You ignored her nagging and boarded your ship, sighing with contentment at being back on board your ship. The GX1 was a converted pleasure craft, you had gotten her dirt cheap in a ship auction because half her systems were toast and her landing gear was trash. You had scrimped and saved every last credit you could for <em>years</em> to buy your own ship. You had spent considerable time and money getting her back up and running and had made a pretty penny hauling cargo from Tatooine to Ryloth and back at one point, picking up a new co-pilot for each run. You were reluctant to let her go, but really what choice did you have? She was registered under your name and if bounty hunters were after you, the smart choice was to get rid of her and hoard your credits until you could get free of Mando and start over. Running your hands over her control board, you sighed again and patted the dash one last time before you disembarked and faced Peli.</p><p>“How soon do you think you could sell her?” you said reluctantly. She lifted a shoulder and eyed the craft critically.</p><p>“Decent craft like that, should fetch a good price and there’s always some schmuck that we can pawn her off on. I’ll keep some feelers out and sell her for…30 percent.”</p><p>You snorted and put your hands on your hips, but you were used to the mechanic’s mercenary ways. “Fifteen, and I’ll make sure her dock fees are paid until she’s sold.”</p><p>“You are already paid up for the next two months, that’s no incentive, I can have her sold in half that time. Twenty-five.”</p><p>“Twenty, and you can keep any fees if she’s sold early.”</p><p>“Done.” You shook on it and you followed Peli into her dusty office to sign whatever paperwork you needed to give her authority to sell on your behalf. By the time you were done, the rest of your crew had converged on the hanger and you could hear Mando and Fett arguing over something by the <em>Crest</em>. Reluctantly you went out to meet them, joining Fennec where she was perched on a pile of crates and scraps.</p><p>“They’ve been at it since we got back,” she said, nodding to the men with her chin. “Mando wants to help with Fett’s next plan and Fett says we can handle it on our own.”</p><p>“Can you?” you asked, curious about what could possibly be causing this much of a dust up. She shrugged and pulled out a flask from a pocket, taking a swig before passing it to you. You sniffed and grinned, Corellian whiskey, your favorite. You passed the flask back and forth, watching the men argue until Mando finally stomped away. He jerked his helmet at you and you took that as your signal that you were about to shove off, though you resented being called like a <em>dog</em>, expected to jump at his command. Hopping down from your perch, you took a minute to steady yourself, slightly tipsy from the heat and the whiskey, before jogging over to join the men.</p><p>“Got what you needed?” Mando asked harshly and you nodded. You looked around for the kid for a moment before you spotted his ears poking out of the bag hanging at his father’s side, watching everything with wide eyes. “Lets go, Fett’s eager to leave.”</p><p>“<em>Kar’ta’ika</em>,” Boba said shortly, the irritation clear through his vocoder. Mando stiffened and whirled around to face the other Mandalorian. “There is room for all three of you when we are done. We could use the extra fighters.” The way he said it make it seem like an old argument, one he knew Mando wasn’t going to budge on but he wanted to push one more time. Mando shook his head once.</p><p>“<em>Nayc, wer’cuy</em>,” Mando responded harshly. You looked between the two, confused. Boba nodded once and advanced to pull the other Mandalorian to him with a hand on the back of his neck, pressing his helmet to the other’s despite his rigid stance.</p><p>“<em>Ret’urcye mhi</em>,” Boba said before stepping back. Mando turned on his heel and entered the ship, motioning you to follow. You paused, taking in your former companions for a moment, wondering when you would see them again.</p><p>“Safe travels, witchling,” Fennec said from her perch, lifting the flask in your direction. You smiled and waved to her before turning to Fett.</p><p>“He’s angry with me for fucking you,” the man said quietly, nodding towards the dark interior of the ship where Mando had disappeared. “I…didn’t realize he would feel that way. I apologize for putting you in that position.”</p><p>You sighed, adjusting the holster of your blaster at your hip. “We’re all adults here, Boba, I think we can work it out. And if not…well, I’ve never been one to look back on my actions with regret. I’ll see you around, Boba.” He nodded and you turned away, entering the ship and pressing the control to close the hatch, wondering as you stared into the hull just what the hell you had gotten yourself into.</p><p>*****</p><p>Mando was already seated in the cockpit when you made your way up the ladder and took the remaining seat, Grogu blinking at you from a carrier that looked like it had been made from an old shipping crate in the co-pilot seat.</p><p>“Sit down and don’t touch anything,” Mando said stiffly as you sat down, not waiting for you to respond before he started lifting off. You scrambled to find the safety belt, clicking it into place just in time for the <em>Crest</em> to gain altitude.</p><p>“So, where are we going?” you finally asked when the silence continued until the ship entered hyperspace. Mando’s shoulders were tense, his entire body rigid in his seat. You wondered what was going through his head under that shiny bucket. You almost wished you had turned Boba away on Sorgan, but that afternoon and night had been some of the best sex of your life and you were hard pressed to regret it. If Mando was going to be angry with you, you could handle it, it wasn’t the first time you had been part of a contentious crew. But you felt a little bad for being part of the wedge that was driven between him and Boba.</p><p>The silence went on so long that you began to think that Mando was going to just ignore you the entire trip when a loud exhale filtered through the helmet’s vocoder and his shoulders sagged.</p><p>“Bounty on Corellia,” he said finally. “We’ll pick it up and return to Nevarro.”</p><p>“Been a while since I’ve been on Corellia,” you said, hoping to keep the conversation going. “Be nice to be back.”</p><p>He didn’t reply and you took his silence to mean he was done talking. You stared out the transperisteel into the streaks of starlight as they flashed past, losing yourself in the cold of hyperspace.</p><p>You are broken from your space induced meditation when Mando turned around and stood up, picking up Grogu and stalking out of the cockpit. Startled, you release your safety harness and follow him.</p><p>“I wasn’t sure where to put my stuff,” you said calmly when you find him in the main level, staring down at the bags you had left in the main bunk. He jerks his head towards the back of the hull.</p><p>“There’s a spare bunk back there, I cleared it out earlier, you can have it.”</p><p>“Thanks.” You gather your things and start to turn away before turning back. “Want me to take him? I should probably work with him a little today.”</p><p>With a grunt of acknowledgement, he passed the kid to you before closing the bunk door behind him.</p><p>“Well kid, I think your dad’s not to happy with me,” you said cheerfully as you meander through the ship to the bunk that had been designated for you. “He’ll have to get over himself eventually. We are all stuck on this ship together for who knows how long.” Grogu blinked up at you and cooed softly.</p><p>The spare bunk was…well it was a bunk. A tiny room that at least had a door and a cot that folded up against the wall and took up most of the available space when you unfolded it. There were a couple of drawers built into the wall, enough for your meager belongings and you set the kid down on the cot so you could put away your things. You stashed the holopads and your kits in the bottom drawers before stuffing your clothes in the remaining space. You collapsed on the cot, frowning at the minimal padding underneath you.</p><p>“Fennec wasn’t joking about this being a shit bed,” you said to your tiny companion. He gave you a small chirp and wagged his ears at you before crawling over to climb in your lap. You rested your back against the wall and hugged him to you, stroking his ears as he played with the strings of your shirt. “I’ve had worst bunks, and worst companions than a frog baby and his grumpy dad. Think we can coax him back into liking me?” He flicked his ears in response and you laughed. “Yeah, I think so too. Everyone likes me, its part of my charm.” You rested your head against the wall and closed your eyes. “Just need to rest my eyes, then we can start on your training, kid.”</p><p>*****</p><p>You jerked awake when the bunk door slid open, hands reaching for the vibroblade strapped to your thigh. Mando looked down at you, helmet giving away nothing as he observed you curled up on the cot with the kid snuggled to your chest, fast asleep.</p><p>“Dinner is in the galley if you are hungry,” he said shortly and turned to walk away.</p><p>“Hey, you can’t be angry with me forever,” you said sharply, bringing him up short. “Fett said you had an understanding, I had no idea you two were that close.”</p><p>“I’m not…” he started before falling silent. His shoulders were tense and you thought he was going to continue walking away before he turned back to face you. A sigh crackled through the vocoder and his shoulders slumped. “I’m not angry with you. I’m…angry with myself. I apologize that I took it out on you.”</p><p>His apology startled you and you stared at the dark t-visor, searching for answers behind the expressionless mask. The vulnerability in the words softened you and you sat up, tucking Grogu into the thin blanket on the cot.</p><p>“I really am sorry,” you said softly, hoping that you could reach an understanding. “I never would have done anything with him if I knew it would upset you this much. You offered your protection and I do appreciate it. I know I won’t get far in the galaxy without someone to watch my back.”</p><p>“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said simply. “You are not my prisoner, and…I’m trusting you with my kid. In return, I promised to keep you safe, and I intend to keep that promise. Just…give me some time.”</p><p>You nodded and swung your legs over the cot’s edge, groaning as you stood and stretched. “This cot really is shit, by the way.”</p><p>A snort emitted through the helmet and you grinned. “Ship's old and I don’t often have companions. We’ll find something on Corellia.” He turned and waved a hand over his shoulder as he walked away. “Come on, I’m sure you’re hungry and the kid will want food soon.”</p><p>You looked down at the bed to see big black eyes blinking up at you and he reached up tiny hands for you to pick him up.</p><p>“You hungry Frog?” you asked as you picked him up and tucked him close to your side. “I’ll bet your dad has something tasty ready for you. Let’s go see what’s for dinner.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando translation:</p><p>Kar’ta’ika: Little heart, bastardized<br/>Nayc, wer’cuy: No, forget it or No, it doesn’t matter.<br/>Ret’urcye mhi: Goodbye, literally Maybe we will meet again.</p><p>So I'm not...not happy with this chapter. But I'm not completely satisfied with it either. We'll see where it goes from here.</p><p>Come visit me on Tumblr! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter Seven: Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It Tonight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He stared at you for a moment, not moving the sharpened metal from your skin until he stepped back and the butt of his spear hit the floor. You allowed yourself to drop down, gulping deep breaths of air as you tried to get your breathing under control. You grinned up at him, blood still pumping fiercely in your veins.</p><p>"Again."</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>These two are KILLING ME. I love them all so much, and I’m so glad everyone is enjoying it as much as I am! Don’t worry, we will be getting the three back together soon, but Din and Reader need to work out their issues first! If they can, because they are both dumb.</p><p>Song Inspo: Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It – Tim McGraw</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Just like on Sorgan, the days fell into a routine. Get up, breakfast for yourself and the kid then practice the Force until you both were ready for lunch. Since you didn’t have Fennec or Fett to spar with, you usually spent the afternoons in your room as Grogu napped, reading one of the holodisks you had brought with you or sneaking a nap yourself. You usually made dinner for all three of you, though Mando again never joined any meals, taking his plate up to the cockpit to eat in peace. After dinner and putting the kid to bed, you would retreat to your room to read more or muck around with your weapons.</p><p>It had been a full week of being on the Crest, the bounty picked up in Corellia with little fuss, although you had been irritated that Mando didn’t want you to leave the ship since he was gone, even if you could handle yourself perfectly well, thank you. He had brought back a new bedroll for the cot when he brought the bounty back to be frozen and you had happily trashed the previous mattress for one that didn’t leave an impression of every bar underneath you in your sleep.</p><p>You were just closing up the power source in the electrostaff after replacing a few wires when a soft tap on the door startled you. Rising, you hit the door panel and Mando was waiting on the other side, looking uncharacteristically shy in his body language, shoulders hunched forward just a bit, helmet tilted to the side as you greeted him.</p><p>“Yes, is everything alright with the kid?” Grogu typically slept in his floating cradle in Mando’s room and you were worried something had happened since he went to sleep.</p><p>“No, I uh…I thought maybe you’d want to have a spar.” He nodded his helmet towards your staff still lying on your cot and you realized he was holding a spear of pure metal, one that shone like his armor did in the overhead light. You raised an eyebrow, glee filling you. You knew Mando was good with a staff, you had seen him and Boba square off while on Sorgan, but he had never bothered to spar with you before. You nodded eagerly and turned to grab your staff before following him out into the main hold.</p><p>A space had been cleared for a practice area, the crates that usually filled the hold stacked high to give you plenty of room to maneuver. Mando took up a stance and waited for you to drop into yours. You were considering attacking first, trying to remember what you had seen of the man’s fighting style on Sorgan when he whipped his spear forward in an overhead move that had you scrambling to bring your staff up to protect your head.</p><p>From there, you fell into a pattern, back and forth as you traded blows, unknown metal meeting durasteel in loud clangs that echoed through the ship. Mando was <em>good</em>, and you felt your blood rising as you battled, your competitive streak rearing its head as he made you work for every strike against his armor. At first, you held back from using the Force, wanting to see how he moved without any aid, but before long you found yourself reaching for that flow of power, using it to strengthen your blows or power your hits as you swung at him. You thought you were getting the upper hand, staffs locked against one another as you used the Force to push him back, back towards the far wall when he suddenly kicked the butt of his spear out, swinging it around his head to come down hard on your right shoulder as he stepped out of the way of your body, lost in the forward momentum from pushing against him. You stumbled and fell to your knees, whirling around to brandish your staff when you felt the icy tip of the spear against your throat. Panting, you looked up at his helmet, expressionless as always, and let go of your staff, listening to the clang of it hitting the deck as you panted, yielding the fight.</p><p>He stared at you for a moment, not moving the sharpened metal from your skin until he stepped back and the butt of his spear hit the floor. You allowed yourself to drop down, gulping deep breaths of air as you tried to get your breathing under control. You grinned up at him, blood still pumping fiercely in your veins.</p><p>“Again.”</p><p>Three more rounds you fought and three more times he beat you, no matter what tricks you pulled. He certainly lived up to the Mandalorian reputation, contained power and fighting prowess that made you want to beg him to teach you everything he knew. As you sprawled on the floor of the hull the last time, struggling to catch your breath after a hard punch to the sternum, he came into your line of sight and looked down at you, that blasted helmet still giving nothing away.</p><p>“Impressive,” he said finally, reaching out a hand to help you up. His gloves were worn and smooth, the leather soft from years of use as he pulled you to your feet. Your staff had rolled away to rest against the piled crates and you called it to you with the Force, quietly surprised at how easily such a task came to you after weeks of working with the kid.</p><p>“You’re not so bad yourself. What is that, some kind of Mandalorian weapon?” you asked as you leaned against the electrostaff for support. Your whole body ached and you desperately wanted a shower, a <em>real</em> shower, not the sonic shower bullshit that the <em>Razor Crest</em> was equipped with.</p><p>He hefted the spear, helmet trained on the shining metal that didn’t have a single blemish on it, despite how much you had hammered it.</p><p>“Beskar, like my armor. It was given to me by a Jedi after we freed a town from imperial control.”</p><p>That brought you up short and you stood up straight, aches forgotten.</p><p>“You met a real Jedi?” you said, incredulously. “Why aren’t they training the kid?”</p><p>“She…said she wouldn’t train him,” he replied slowly. “Said he was too attached to me to train properly, to take him away from me, so I had to find someone else.” He shrugged, a quick lift and dip of one shoulder.</p><p>Mando was a man of few words and even fewer body language cues, but that one gesture spoke volumes about how he was feeling. You knew he was devoted to the kid, every choice he made, including sparing you from the guild, was calculated to protect Grogu. You couldn’t imagine how it had felt, being willing to give up your child to a stranger for his own good, only to be told they wouldn’t do it.</p><p>“A real Jedi,” you said, wonder infusing you. You had traveled the galaxy for years and had never heard a whisper that there was a Force user outside of the Empire’s control until you met Mando and the kid. You would have loved to talk to her, to see if there was any wisdom that she could share with you about your powers and how to train the kid. “Maybe someday we can meet her again.”</p><p>He grunted and turned away, hefting the spear to return it to a rack of weapons by his gun cabinet. You had gotten a look in it as he was preparing for his hunt on Corellia and while not as impressive as Boba’s, you were stunned by the amount and range of his weapons. It made sense, weapons were a Mandalorian’s religion you had heard, but the variety had still shocked you.</p><p>You passed him your electrostaff to hang with his spear and rolled your shoulder, still feeling the hard hit from your first round. You would need to get something cold on it and meandered away to the tiny galley with the ramshackle table you had cobbled together your first night on the <em>Crest</em>, searching through the food stores for a cold pack. You turned away from the stores, frustrated by not finding anything, when he dropped a medpack into your hands.</p><p>“Should be something in there for your shoulder,” he said gruffly before turning away and stalking towards his bunk. “We land on Chandrila tomorrow morning, get some rest.”</p><p>You were left standing in the galley, med pack in your hands, as he closed the door behind him. Shaking your head, you took the pack with you to your room.</p><p>It was a little tricky, getting the cold pack to stay on your shoulder, but eventually you figured out how to wrap it in place with some bandages wrapped around your chest and shoulder and gingerly laid down on the cot after shedding your pants and shirt, leaving you in an undershirt and sleep shorts. You had found some mild painkillers in the kit and were waiting for them to kick in. It felt good to work out, stretch muscles that hadn’t been used in over a week and Mando was an excellent opponent. You wondered if you would be able to coax him into another bout after the next bounty.</p><p>You turned over the fights in your mind as you laid in the darkness, trying to figure out how to beat the man. Your skills were hardwon in battle, but the Mandalorian had a lifetime of knowledge and training to back him and you were itching to learn more. Quickly, your thoughts turned from Mando to your last fight with Boba and you groaned softly as you remembered what had happened after. The hard, rough sex after he and Fennec had come to your quarters, but also that night, after everyone had gone to bed and you had led him back to your bed.</p><p>Fett was skilled in more than battle and had gone down on you when you shed your clothes, clever fingers and tongue bringing you to a shattering climax before he had sunk deep inside, pounding into you as he chased his own high, hitting that spot inside that made you see stars before you both came in a gush of fluid and spend. Your fingers slipped under the band of your shorts and wandered down to your clit, sighing softly when you ghosted over the flesh there, dipping inside your lips to gather the wetness that gathered there to slide around your nub. You remembered how it felt when Bob had touched you, thick fingers rough with calluses not so different from yours, but so much <em>more</em>. You doubted you would see him again anytime soon, and even if you did, you would definitely not be jumping into bed with him again, not when you knew how Mando felt about it. But those hours were <em>yours</em>, yours to hold onto and remember and you would not deny yourself some relief when it wasn’t likely you would find someone to fuck any time soon.</p><p>Shifting so your shoulder was propped up, you let yourself remember, and used your fingers to imitate how he had brought you off, quick, hard rubs and rough thrusts into your sopping pussy. You wanted something more, a hard cock to pound into you, but the only option in hyperspace was your armor-clad companion and you would die before you slept with <em>him</em>.</p><p>He was so pent up, so closed off to people you wondered if he let lose when he fucked, if he was desperate to touch or if he kept himself away from others even as he was buried balls deep inside them. Frustrated by the traitorous turn of your thoughts, you reverted to your tried-and-true methods, quick, frantic movements that had you gasping for breath as your climax washed over you.</p><p>After, you laid in your bunk, scolding yourself for your thoughts. Mando had <em>kidnapped you</em> and thrown you in a cell, given you no choice but to work for him in exchange for not being turned over to the remnants of the Empire. Not to mention, the man was so hung up on Fett it was almost hilarious. Despite the agreement the two of you had come to, you <em>knew</em> he was still angry, felt betrayed by Fett and even if he did decide to sleep with someone in revenge, there was no way in hell you would touch him. Just the thought, now that your thoughts weren’t clouded with lust, was laughable, not only because he had never shown the slightest interest in you, but because you refused to allow it to happen. Sure, you were no preening virgin, you had had your fair share of men and women and the occasional alien, but you had <em>standards</em> and angry, near silent droid-like kidnappers were not on your list of men to fuck.</p><p>Frustrated by your own thoughts, you removed the cold pack, not eager to sleep in the bandages and rolled over onto your left side, pulling the blankets tight over your shoulder and forced yourself to breath deep and easy, casting your thoughts into the Force to calm yourself and drift to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Reader, Reader, Reader, you need to get your hormones under control girl. I bet you guys thought we were going to have a repeat of chapter 4/5, didn't you? Sorry to disappoint, but its coming!</p><p>Surprise, I'm uploading chapter 8 right after this! Its another one that got away from me and definitely works better as a two parter. Yay!</p><p>Come visit me on Tumblr! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter Eight: Is It Weird That I Hear Violins Whenever You're Gone?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“This is linked to my comm and if you see even a hint of something sketchy, you press this button and head back to the ship as fast as you can, okay? I’ll drop everything and come find you.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yay, a double chapter update!!! I had literally finished chapter 7, was reading it over and realized they worked better separately. Whoops. Tell me what you think about these dumb dumbs. Don't worry, we'll be bringing Boba dn Fennec back soon!!!!</p><p>Song Inspo: Trumpets - Jason Derulo</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The crash of metal on metal jerked you from restless dreams of metal men and the screams of your destroyed village and you sat up, hands flying to your chest to calm you pounding heart. Scrambling out of bed, you rushed out of your room to find Mando picking up the contents of a spilled toolbox, the green child babbling at him in excitement from a perch on top of a pile of crates. He crowed when he spotted you and held his arms out for you to pick him up.</p><p>Mando spun around then went rigid, staring at you, tools hanging loosely in his grip. You frowned, looking down at yourself to make sure you hadn’t injured yourself in your sleep and froze when you remembered your attire. The undershirt you wore was old and hung loosely from your shoulders and you could clearly see the outline of your nipples through the fabric. Yelping, you quickly retreated back into your room and slammed the door panel closed, leaning against the door and groaning in frustration. So much for not making things awkward between the two of you. You dug the palms of your hands into your eyes and sighed.</p><p>After a moment of tense waiting, hoping Mando wouldn’t follow you to demand what the hell you thought you were doing, you stood, reminding yourself you were a grown woman and you did not need to apologize for anything when he was the one so rudely making a ruckus so early in the morning and dressed for the day.</p><p>The bounty on Chandrila had gone smoothly, and you have even convinced Mando to let you off the ship to replenish supplies, although he had followed you like a guard dog the whole time. It was annoying, but you understood it. Neither of you wanted you to get picked up by another bounty hunter, not with a 50,000 credit bounty on your head. Now you were headed to Malastare, Mando’s last bounty before you returned to Nevarro to hand off the pucks to the guild.</p><p>Malastare was a forest planet and you dressed appropriately, dark pants and shirt with a vest over that you could tuck various odds and ends into if needed and your well-loved boots. Strapping your holster around your wait, you steeled your nerves and left your room to get to the fresher. You made it without any awkward run ins with your traveling companion and took care of your business before attempting to smooth down the rats nest of your hair, binding it back in a few small braids that Fennec had shown you. Satisfied with your appearance, you went in search of breakfast.</p><p>Mando was nowhere to be seen, but Grogu greeted you cheerfully from the galley and you carried on a one sided conversation with him as you made breakfast from the rations in the stores, answering his baby talk as if he made perfect sense. You fed him breakfast, taking bites for yourself between feeding the little frog.</p><p>Breakfast done and Grogu cleaned up from the inevitable mess, you carried him up to the cockpit. Mando was there, messing with the controls as the navcomm beeped the approach to your destination. You greeted him cheerfully, refusing to acknowledge your morning meeting and strapped yourself in your seat. He grunted his own acknowledgement, turning to take Grogu from you before turning back around and ignoring you.</p><p>You were fine with that, and the two of you sat in silence, Grogu’s chatter the only noise as the Crest dropped from hyperspace and the lush forest planet of Malastare filled the transparisteel.</p><p>The silence stretched, broken only by Mando requesting landing clearance from the Pixelito air service. Once the Crest was safely landed, you both released your harnesses and filed down to the hold. You held Grogu as Mando suited up, the baby babbling as always as his father tucked various weapons around his body, strapping the beskar steel spear next to his pulse rifle and turning to leave.</p><p>“Wait!” you said at the last minute and he paused, looking over his shoulder at you.</p><p>“I…we haven’t seen anyone after me in a while, and we both know I can defend myself. We need supplies, I can go get some stuff while you are hunting?” You found you were nervous for his response, like a kid asking for permission to run off on your own. He looked you up and down and sighed before turning back to the weapons cabinets.</p><p>“Make sure you carry these with you at all times,” he said gruffly, passing you two blasters and a new holster. You put down Grogu and eagerly strapped the harness around your shoulders, sliding the blasters into their holsters under your arms, double checking you had all your knives before slinging your electrostaff into its place on your back. You were carrying almost as many weapons as he was, and it made your blood sing to be trusted with his weapons. He caught your wrist and strapped a new communicator to it, bulkier and much more advanced that your old one.</p><p>“This is linked to my comm and if you see even a hint of something sketchy, you press this button and head back to the ship as fast as you can, okay? I’ll drop everything and come find you.” You nodded eagerly as he showed you the emergency button on the side of the communicator, taking the time to go over the various features of the comm unit, as well as the locater beacon built in. “Intel says the bounty is in Pixelito so I won’t be far. If you see anything, and I mean <em>anything</em> out of the ordinary…”</p><p>“I’ll hit the panic button and hightail it back to the <em>Crest</em>,” you repeated, barely resisting bouncing on your toes in excitement. It felt like weeks since you had been able to get off the ship and you were dying to explore. He passed you the bag Grogu habitually sat in and you adjusted it to fit so it wouldn’t get in the way of any of your weapons, demonstrating your draw for him multiple times before he jerked his head once and stepped back. Grogu squealed in excitement as you picked him up and tucked him in the sack, big ears flapping as he picked up your own excitement.</p><p>Mando stared you down for several minutes, stance rigid as he seemed to be thinking about something. You wanted to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder, reassure him that you could handle yourself, but you restrained yourself. Finally he nodded and turned away, leading the way down the ramp.</p><p>Mando stayed with you at first as you explored, finding the marketplace and starting your shopping. It was awkward, negotiating with the hulking Mandalorian looming two steps behind you at every store and stall, but you allowed it, knowing he was just trying to protect both yourself and the kid. Eventually, after he found no signs of enemies, he stepped close to ruffle a hand over Grogu’s head and remind you one more time about the emergency measure before he headed out to hunt his bounty.</p><p>“Well kid, its just us,” you said as you tucked some rations around him. He squealed and pointed towards what looked like a pet store, the sign decorated with various reptiles. You laughed and meandered over.</p><p>The store didn’t sell any frogs, much to Grogu’s disappointment, but you found a vender that was geared towards amphibious species and purchased some freeze dried frogs to make for him later, which made him happy. You found a store that sold toys and books and bought a few things for the both of you, some toys to keep the kid occupied and some new holodisks for yourself to keep yourself occupied. A travel dejarik set caught your eye and you added that to your purchases. Maybe you could convince Mando to play a few rounds with you.</p><p>The two of you visited a few more stores before calling it a day, you had bought more than enough rations for three people as well as some new clothes. You started heading back to the Crest when the hairs on the back of your neck raised and you had the distinct feeling someone was watching you. Stopping at a booth that sold crystal jewelry, you carefully looked around as the seller droned on about his prices and pieces for sale. You didn’t see anyone, but the feeling of being watched didn’t go away and you rested your hand on the panic button as you smiled at the seller and walked away, doing your best to keep your steps even and limbs loose, like you didn’t have a care in the world. Instead of taking the short way back to the hanger, you zig zagged through the marketplace, losing yourself in the crowds, hoping to throw off whoever was watching you. Grogu seemed to have caught your caution and he burrowed deep in the bag until you could just barely see the top of his head.</p><p>Your hand never left the panic button as the feeling of being watched eventually faded away and you made a break for the hangers. You rushed up the ramp into the safety of the <em>Razor Crest</em> and sighed in relief as the cargo doors closed behind you, punching in the security code Mando had given you to lock down the ship.</p><p>“That was not fun, was it, kid?” you said as you lifted him out of the bag and set him on the table so you could put your purchases away. “Don’t worry, your dad will be back soon and I’ll take care of you until then.”</p><p>The hours passed as you played with Grogu, but you didn’t take any weapons off, constantly alert for any noise outside the ship. Several times, you haul the kid up the ladder to the cockpit so you can check the systems, the radar around the ship to see if there are any lifeforms that shouldn’t be near the hanger. There never was, but your paranoia doesn’t go away, that feeling that something is out there and waiting for you.</p><p>Eventually, the kid passed out for the night and you tuck him into his cradle, sealing the blast doors shut and tucking him away in your room, closing and locking the door from the outside before you settle in from of the door, staring down the hall all the way through the ship to the sealed ramp door. You had taken a rifle from Mando’s stash, double checked that it was in good repair and looped a bandolier of bullets around your chest, and it rested against your knees as you waited for Mando to return.</p><p>The Force was no comfort to you, though you had immersed yourself deep into it hours ago, reaching out for the source of unease that was permeating your entire being. You kept brushing your fingers over the panic button, debating with yourself if you should press the button. Each time you talked yourself out of it, there was nothing that was actively trying to hurt you or the kid, just a bone deep sense that something was coming, that this place was not as safe as you wished it was; a feeling that rode you hard to stay on high alert. No reason to have Mando come rushing back, guns blazing, over a <em>feeling</em>, even as your anxiety grew as the hours passed.</p><p>The communicator had just flipped past midnight when you heard a scuffle outside the ship. Every sense was on edge and you scrambled to your feet, positioning yourself by the wall and raising the rifle to ready when the locks on the ramp released and Mando strode up the ramp, pushing a bound Weequay ahead of him. He stopped when he spotted you, armed and ready to defend the ship. He raised one hand, the other holding the Weequay firmly in place, showing you he had no weapons.</p><p>“What happened?” he said harshly, vocoder snapping and popping as the words rumbled out. You shook your head and forced your hands to lower the rifle, easing it to your side though you didn’t release it entirely. Slowly, Mando advanced, pushing the Weequay into the carbonite freezer as quickly as he could. You stood stock still, eyes darting around the darkness of the hanger bay until he hit a button on his vambrace and the doors rumbled shut, sealing you in.</p><p>You felt the tension leave your body and you shuddered, wanting to sob in relief that he was back. Leaning the rifle against the wall, you barreled into him, wrapping your arms around the hard beskar tightly as you took a deep breath for the first time in hours. You didn’t even realize you had done it until you were able to calm yourself down enough to realize he hadn’t moved, standing rigid as a statue. His arms were held away from you, even though you had pressed yourself so close the bandolier was cutting into your chest. You quickly pulled away, putting space between you as the heat of embarrassment rose, flushing across your entire body.</p><p>“What happened?” he said again, voice harsh through his helmet. You rubbed your hands over your arms, embarrassed at your reaction and having to explain that you had had a <em>feeling</em> that something was wrong. “Is the kid okay? Are you hurt? Why didn’t you comm me?”</p><p>“I’m…he’s okay, he’s asleep in my room. There wasn’t…nothing happened. I just…had a feeling.” You let the words peter out, unsure how to explain the bone deep terror that had been riding you since you came back to the ship. You looked down at the floor, struggling to find the words. “I felt…I had a feeling, in the market. Like someone was watching us and I…”</p><p>His boots thumped against the metal floor as he came closer, and a gloved hand lifted to grip your chin, raising your head to look at the helmet. You had the impression that he was looking you up and down, check for injuries or staring into your eyes, you weren’t sure.</p><p>“A feeling?” he repeated, voice giving away nothing as he prompted you to explain yourself. You nodded against his hand.</p><p>“I…get these feelings sometimes. Like…there is something watching me, or before something terrible happens. And it wouldn’t go away, no matter what I did. I…I didn’t want to call you for a feeling, but I couldn’t shake it,” you finished lamely, unsure how to really explain.</p><p>“Do you still have it?” he asked, helmet staring down at you. You shook your head slowly.</p><p>“No, it…went away when you came back,” you admitted. Stars, you felt like a child explaining to her father there was a monster in the closet. You didn’t understand it, how that all-encompassing feeling of danger, of needing to be on alert for something coming to hurt you or the kid had dissipated when he walked up the ramp.</p><p>“If you get another feeling like that, I want you to comm me,” he said firmly, dropping his hand and stepping away. “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing or where I am, you hit that button and I’ll come. If your instincts are telling you there is danger, listen to them. Okay?”</p><p>“Okay,” you agree, feeling a little better. You nodded towards the carbonite freezer, trying to pull the attention away from you. “You got your bounty, I see.”</p><p>“He tried to run, but I was faster,” he said simply, walking away to the weapons cabinet to stash his guns and spear. You passed him the weapons he had lent you, going to retrieve the rifle from where you had left it so he could put it away as well.</p><p>Now that the adrenaline was gone you swayed on your feet, exhaustion swamping you. Mando touched your shoulder and you blinked at him wearily. He steered you towards your room, unlocking the door and pushing you to sit on the cot. You settled into the blankets with a sigh, allowing yourself to relax now that he was back. You were too tired to wonder at your reaction, at the feeling of safety that blanketed you as he guided the floating cradle out of the room. You were falling asleep without even taking your boots off, but the last thing you heard before you passed out was a soft voice through a modulator.</p><p>“Sleep, <em>verd’ika</em>. I’ll keep watch for now.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando'a Translation:<br/>Verd'ika: Little Soldier</p><p>Ugh, I love them both so much. They are so stupid for each other, its insane. &lt;3</p><p>Find me on Tumblr! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter Nine: I Can Barely Breathe When You're Here Loving Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“He woke up like this,” Mando said, gesturing to the little one. The helplessness in his voice registered even over the vocoder and your heart clenched in worry. “I tried to get him to eat something and he didn’t want anything. I got some gen meds down him, but I think he’s really sick.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: These fucksticks are going to be the death of me, I swear to god. </p><p>And the slow burn tag came back bc while Boba and Reader got it on like Donkey Kong, Din and Reader ARE PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF GETTING ALONG.</p><p>Song Inspo: Fire Meet Gasoline – Sia(See what I did there? 😉)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You slept much longer than normal the next day, the adrenaline of being on guard and keyed up for hours exhausted you and it was well after noon before you managed to swim to the surface of wakefulness.</p><p>Lifting your head, you looked around for the kid’s cradle and shot out of bed when you didn’t find it. In a panic that something had happened, you scrambled free of your blankets and ran into the main hold, hands searching for a vibroblade as you ran. The hum of the engines, the rumble of hyperspace calmed you slightly as you took a moment to look around, nothing was out of place and a new slab of carbonite rested neatly in the rack. Not finding either Mando or Grogu on the main level, you hauled yourself up the ladder to the cockpit and found father and son in the captain’s chair, Mando stroking the kid’s head softly. He turned to look you up and down as you entered.</p><p>“I…I thought something had happened,” you said quietly as you took your normal seat. You frowned when the kid didn’t babble at your entrance, he was slumped in Mando’s arms and in the quiet of the cockpit you heard a faint wheeze. Concerned, you slid to your knees in front of Mando, placing a hand on Grogu’s little head and frowned at the heat that radiated off him.</p><p>“He woke up like this,” Mando said, gesturing to the little one. The helplessness in his voice registered even over the vocoder and your heart clenched in worry. “I tried to get him to eat something and he didn’t want anything. I got some gen meds down him, but I think he’s really sick.”</p><p>You nodded, stroking the kid’s tiny hairs, frowning at the little whimpers that he made. “There’s a doctor on Nevarro, right? The guild has to have a doctor nearby we can take him to.”</p><p>Mando nodded, hands tightening around the little body. “He’s never…he’s never been sick, I don’t know what to do.” The admission of uncertainty, that he would unbend enough to confide in you was touching, and any other time you would marvel that your relationship, always so contentious, had evolved so that he could trust you with his feelings. But you would think on that later, for now you had a sick kid to worry about.</p><p>You wracked your brain for distant memories of what your mother had done when you were young and sick, the memories long buried and hidden away.</p><p>“We need to try to bring down his fever,” you said softly. “Can I take him?”</p><p>Reluctantly, Mando lifted the tiny boy and shifted him into your arms. You hugged the baby to your chest, doing your best to blanket him in feelings of love and safety as he struggled in your arms. He clearly wanted to be back with his dad, a tiny whine breaking the silence. You shushed him and hummed a scrap of a lullaby you vaguely remembered your mother singing to you, something about a lost lothcat trying to find his mother. Carefully, you went down the ladder with your precious cargo, doing your best to not jostle him as you went to the fresher and dampened a wash rag. Mando was hot on your heels as you pressed the wet cloth to fevered green flesh, hands flexing at the whine that emitted from the baby.</p><p>“I know baby, I know its no fun, but you’ll feel better if we can break this fever,” you murmured to the kid, who fought weakly to get away from the cold. “Can you help me get his coat off? I want to wipe the rest of him down.”</p><p>Between the two of you, you managed to get the limp little body undressed, leaving him in his tiny beige pants and you rested the cool cloth on his little body, wetting another cloth to wipe his little head and ears.</p><p>“I don’t know what else to do,” you said anxiously as you stroked his big ears, listening to the wheeze of his breath. “Can we comm Omera? She’s a mother, she would know what to do.”</p><p>“Tried, Sorgan’s out of range,” Mando said, gloved fingers bumping into yours as he stroked Grogu’s head. “Cara said to just get to Nevarro as quickly as possible.”</p><p>“Did you call Fett?” you asked, desperately trying to think of anyone else that could help. He jerked his helmet in a quick dismissal.</p><p>“What’s he going to know?” he said harshly and you frowned.</p><p>“You never know, he might. Or Fennec might have some ideas....”</p><p>“We’re almost to Nevarro, should be another hour or so, we don’t need him,” he cut you off sternly, signaling the conversation was over and you sighed. Whatever was between them, that night on Sorgan had obviously hurt Mando enough that he wasn’t willing to even talk to Fett. It saddened you, you knew from observation the two had been close on the <em>Slave I</em>, and even if you and Mando had made up enough for him to forgive you, he clearly wasn’t willing to extend the same courtesy to Fett. So you were stuck waiting to drop from hyperspace so you could find a doctor.</p><p>The damp cloth resting on Grogu’s body had dried and you hurried to rewet it and drape it across him again. The kid struggled again weakly and you curled your arm around him tighter, hoping the contact would help some. You made your way to the table in the galley and dropped into a chair, starting to hum the pieces of the lullaby you remembered. Mando stood close, watching you as you tried to comfort the kid in the only way you knew how.</p><p>“You’re good with him, <em>verd'ika,"</em> he said softly, reaching down to stroke an ear again. “I didn’t…I didn’t know what to do besides hold him.”</p><p>“I don’t know what I’m doing either,” you admitted gently, trying to relieve some of the guilt he was clearly feeling. “You’re his dad, just being near you probably helped a lot.”</p><p>“He’s not really mine,” he said, anxiety breaking through the helmet. “He’s my foundling, and the creed says he’s like mine until he grows up but…I couldn’t speak the words, I didn’t know if I would have to give him up to a Jedi and I couldn’t-I couldn’t adopt him, couldn’t let him see my face, knowing I would have to give him up.” It seemed like the admission distressed him and you stood to hand the kid to him, careful to keep the clothes in place as you pressed him into his metal plated arms.</p><p>“You are his father, formal adoption or not,” you said softly. “I don’t know how Mandalorians do it, but you take care of him, protect him, make sure he has everything he needs. That makes you as much his father as any I’ve seen.” His helmet dropped to his chest, dark t-visor trained on the tiny face that snuffled and burrowed closer to the metal of his breastplate. You supposed the metal was cold and felt good on his fevered skin.</p><p>The three of you stood together, Mando cradling his son and you doing your best to send waves of peace and healing through the Force to the pair, silently communing, until a beep from the cockpit made the two of you look up. Mando sighed and started to pass the kid to you, but you shook your head and started for the cockpit.</p><p>“Stay, I got it. I’ve seen you pilot enough, I know what to do.”</p><p>In the cockpit, you slid into the captain’s chair, waiting for the drop from hyperspace so you could take control of the ship. The pre-ship wasn’t so different from the ship you had first learned to pilot on, so many years ago and once the ship pulled out of hyperspace and the bright orange and yellow of Nevarro filled the dash, you swiftly took control, smoothing guiding it down to land. Once you touched down, you quickly powered down and hurried downstairs, looking for Mando and Grogu.</p><p>The door to Mando’s bunk was firmly closed and you tapped on it lightly, letting him know you had landed. A quiet, “just a minute,” echoed out and you frowned at the voice, surprisingly crisp and clear for some reason. The clang of metal on metal echoed before the door opened and you stepped back as Mando emerged, still cradling Grogu like he was the most precious thing in the galaxy. The wash clothes were gone and he had bundled the baby in a soft blue blanket you recognized from the kid’s cradle, tucking it firmly around his ears to hide them. You took a moment to wrap a scarf over your hair and over your mouth, even if you were going to find a doctor it would still be prudent to hide your face in a city full of bounty hunters. He motioned for you to grab the cradle and it floated behind you as the pair of you hurried down the ramp and into Nevarro City.</p><p>Mando’s steps were quick and light as he navigated the crowded streets of the city to a run down building with the bright sign of a med center shining like a beacon of hope. He strode through the doors, demanding a doctor as soon as a med droid greeted you, a real doctor, <em>not </em>a med droid, he emphasized. The sight of a fully armored and weaponed Mandalorian and his equally armed companion must have been galvanizing, because before long you found yourselves in a sterile patient room, waiting for a doctor.</p><p>The Weequay that entered briefly reminded you of the alien Mando had frozen on his rack, but the male’s professional manner quickly calmed any qualms you had.</p><p>“Well, lets take a look at your…baby?” The doctor frowned when Mando brushed aside the blankets and he saw Grogu, green ears lying flat against his head in exhaustion, but dark eyes wide with interest in his new surroundings. “Baby…frog?”</p><p>
  <em>AM NOT FROG MONSTER-GROGU EAT FROG</em>
</p><p>You gasped at the words that echoed through your mind, the first that you had heard from the kid. You hadn’t even realized that you could <em>talk</em> to each other through the Force, and the idea was so exciting you leaned towards the kid, fingers stretching to touch him before remembering there were others in the room. You shook your head at Mando’s head tilt in your direction and focused instead on the doctor, letting your fingers brush against the kid’s fevered brow, sending him more waves of calm instead of answering.</p><p>“He’s just a baby, we aren’t sure what species,” Mando said quietly. “As far as we can tell, he’s the last of his kind, we’ve been searching for his species for years with no luck. None of the normal meds seem to be working, we didn’t know what to do.”</p><p>The doctor frowned and reached for a scanner. Grogu was distracted by the shiny metal and despite not feeling well, tried to grab it every time it came close to him. You took his little hands and rubbed the tiny digits, doing your best to keep him still so the doctor could work. The Weequay hemmed and hawed, going over whatever medical gibberish the device spat out. Eventually he turned back to the three of you with a placid smile.</p><p>“Well the good news is, it seems like just a common flu. Babies get them all the time, and it can be distressing the first time, but its nothing some time and meds won’t clear. You did a good job bringing him in, he’s lucky to have such concerned parents. I’ll give him a shot to help boost his immune system and some meds to help that wheeze, but he should be fine in a day or two.”</p><p>You considered rebuking the doctor’s statement that you were both his parents, but the relief that he was going to be fine was too overwhelming to do much beyond squeeze his tiny fingers and bend down to press a kiss to his tiny forehead. The heat from his fevered skin seared your lips and you stepped back, frowning.</p><p>“Can we do anything for his fever? He’s so tiny, I’m worried it could hurt him.”</p><p>The doctor nodded, obviously used to worried maternal figures. “The shot I’ll give him should help bring it down, but a fever means his body is fighting whatever he has and that’s a good thing. I’m going to put a temperature strip on him, it’ll come off in a day or two but it’ll give you a good idea of what his temperature is so you can keep an eye on it. If it goes over 102 come back and we’ll see what else we can do, but for now I think he should be fine.”</p><p>Mando didn’t seem inclined to say anything, just held the kid tightly as the doctor fussed over him, attaching a little white cloth and plasticine strip to his chest that blinked tiny numbers at you and showed the syringe to the kid, who once again tried to grab it. He cried when the doctor injected him, and you saw Mando tense, free arm jerking down to his holstered gun and without thinking, you grabbed his hand and held it between yours, gripping the leather tightly. There would be no shooting the doctor for just doing his job on your watch. Mando looked at you, helmet tilted in that curious way that had you flushing and you quickly let go of his hand, embarrassed that you had grabbed him.</p><p>Before long, the doctor let you go, giving you a packet of flimsy with signs to look out for and reminding you to come back if anything changed.</p><p>Outside the clinic, you turned to Mando, tugging the blanket over Grogu’s ears to hide them again. “I can take him back to the ship while you go see the guild.” Mando stepped away from you, unwilling to relinquish his tiny burden.</p><p>“No, come with me.” His words didn’t lean any room for argument and you hurry to follow him as he strides away. He leads you to a dingy cantina and you jump when a voice booms over the typical cantina chatter.</p><p>“Mando!” An older man stands from a booth and waves to the pair of you to join him. “And baby! And who is this?”</p><p>“Kid’s teacher,” Mando said simply as he dropped into the booth and you squeeze in after him. The stranger smiles charmingly at you and you nodded in return, not lowering your scarf.</p><p>“Any friend of Mando’s is a friend of mine,” he says jovially and you smile. You like this boisterous man. “It’s been a while since you showed that bucket around here, was starting to think you had forgotten about me.”</p><p>“Hard person to forget, Greef,” Mando said shortly, shuffling the kid in his arms as he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out four bounty pucks, passing them to the man.</p><p>“Ah, yes straight to business as always,” the man chuckled, passing the pucks to a crony who disappeared out the door with them. “I’ll have someone off load these from your ships. Have a drink with me, tell me what took you so long to return.”</p><p>“Things happen,” Mando said simply. You watched him silently, noting the tense way he surveyed the cantina and its occupants. For so early in the morning, there was a surprising amount of business, a good third of the booths and chairs filled with various humans and aliens. One twi’lek turned to stare at you and you shuffled closer to Mando, suddenly extremely aware that you were in bounty hunter central with a hefty bounty on your head. Mando’s heavy hand came to rest on your knee and you jumped, startled. He squeezed once, as if trying to reassure you before his hand lifted and he concentrated on this man, Greef.</p><p>“I need to know anything you can tell me about a bounty I came across,” Mando said. Greef turned to look at you, curiosity shining in his dark eyes. You stared back, not wanting to show your fear of being here. Grogu wiggled in Mando’s arms and you reached to take him, cuddling him close and trying to concentrate on serenity for both of you. You brushed light fingers over his forehead, relieved to notice that his fever was already going down, not nearly as blazing hot to the touch as he was before. Grogu whined and buried his face against your chest and a bubble of affection for the child rose in your chest.</p><p>You tuned back into the men’s conversation when Mando gave Greef your name and the man scowled as he looked at a holopad.</p><p>“Hmmm, pretty hefty bounty, contracted to the guild by the Imps. Wanted alive, undamaged. What’s going on Mando? Found another like the baby?”</p><p>“Just business,” Mando replied smoothly. You busied yourself with the kid, attempting to appear as small as possible. “I’d appreciate it if you gave as few pucks out for it as you can. As a favor to me.”</p><p>“Now Mando, you know I can’t just ignore a guild contracted bounty,” Greef said, a laugh in his voice. He took in the way you were pressed up against Mando, cradling the kid close to you. “I’ll tell you what. You take these two pucks,” he held up two pucks and slid them across the table. “no reward, just bring me the bounty, and your pretty friend has a drink with me and I’ll do my best to give the pucks to only a select few. Of course, I can’t speak for other guild centers, but from ours you’ll get as little resistance as possible.”</p><p>Mando tilted his helmet down to look at you and you nodded. One drink in exchange for as few hunters as possible? That was an easy bargain to make. You’d offer to help Mando on the bounties later, to make up for the effort he would put into it for no pay off. Maybe Peli would contact you soon with the sale of the <em>Sparrow</em> and you could give him some credits to make up for the loss.</p><p>“Excellent!” Greef said when Mando gave his assent and he motioned for the bartender to send two cups to the table. You assumed he already knew Mando wouldn’t take his helmet off around him and concentrated on the bright blue liquid in the cup. Spotchka, enough to give you a buzz, but not enough to make you sloppy between here and the Crest. You raised it, inclining the cup towards the guildmaster and lowered your scarf, downing the liquid and fighting the burn. Damn, you had gotten spoiled on Sorgan, gotten used to the easy burn of fresh spotchka. Setting the cup down, you hurried to pull your scarf back in place.</p><p>“Ah, she’s much more fun than you Mando. I assume I can’t coax the two of you to share a meal?”</p><p>Mando shook his head. “I just want the credits and my next bounty.”</p><p>Greef grumbled and pulled out a stack of credits, counting off a significant amount before sliding them across the table. Mando made quick work of stashing them before returning to stillness, waiting for the guildmaster to pass him some pucks. You squirmed as you saw more hunters casting glances at you and once again you felt Mando’s hand settle on your knee, but this time he left it, a heavy weight that calmed you, but also sent confused warnings zipping through you.</p><p>“In addition to the two pucks for free, I’ll give you two this time,” Greef finally said, passing three blinking pucks to your companion. “Mid-range, bail skippers. Good money.” Mando nodded and tucked all four pucks away before pressing on your knee like he wanted you to move. You scooched out of the booth and stood, cradling Grogu close to you as the men concluded their business.</p><p>“Don’t be a stranger Mando!” Greef called as the Mandalorian put his hand on your elbow and steered you out of the cantina. You gave the friendly guildmaster a wave before he disappeared from sight.</p><p>Once you were safely back on the ship, you carefully put Grogu, who had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the trip back, into his cradle, hoping some sleep would help him heal. Mando ignored you as he climbed up to the cockpit and started the engines, getting ready for lift off. You considered going up to the cockpit, but eventually decided against it, guiding the cradle to your room and settling onto your bed, pulling out one of your new holodisks to read as the <em>Crest</em> lifted off and made the jump into hyperspace.</p><p>The man was confusing, one minute he didn’t want anything to do with you, the next just casually touching you and lying his hands on your knee. You could still feel the ghost of his touch on your knee, warmth long since dissipated but that didn’t change the fact that it had been there. You didn’t understand what was happening and the emotions that it was bringing to the surface. Eventually, frustrated with the way your thoughts kept spiraling round and round, you tossed the holodisk onto the blankets and dug out the travel dejarik set, tucking in under your arm as you went in search of the Mandalorian. The kid would be fine, he was resting and you could the <em>Crest</em> was small enough you could hear if he woke and started calling for you.</p><p>Mando was sitting in his chair, not messing with any controls, looking deep in thought when you entered the cockpit. You held up the game when he turned his chair to look at you.</p><p>“Fancy a game? Kid’s asleep, I didn’t want to disturb him.”</p><p>He nodded once and waited quietly as you set the game up. Opening moves were made in companionable quiet, but you groaned when he attacked your first pawn. Dejarik was a game of strategy and you were no surprised to find that Mando was a master strategist.</p><p>“I thought about what you said, about him being my kid even though I hadn’t formally adopted him,” Mando said quietly, breaking the silence. You paused, hand half-way to moving your piece to look at him before continuing with your move. “I think you’re right, he’s mine, no matter what. I…said the adoption words over him before we left.”</p><p>“That’s…that’s great,” you said, joy filling you at his confession. “Can I…can I ask what they are?”</p><p>He shifted in his seat, pausing to take his turn before his helmet lifted to look at you.</p><p>“<em>Ni kyr’tyl gai sa’ad</em>,” he said softly, and you could hear the emotion behind them even through the helmet.</p><p>“That’s beautiful,” you replied. You assumed it was whatever the Mandalorian language was, but you had to ask. “What does it mean?”</p><p>“I know your name as my child. I remember-when the Mandalorian who found me said them to me. It was…the happiest day of my life. I want Grogu to know that he’s mine. Whatever happens.”</p><p>“He knows,” you said simply. Warmth suffused you as you realized the trust he was placing in you and you reached out to place a hand on his glove. He slowly turned his hand so yours rested in his palm and he wrapped his fingers around yours, holding tight. “He spoke to me today, you know.”</p><p>Mando looked up, helmet tilted again. “What did he say?”</p><p>“Am not Frog, Monster-Grogu eat frog,” you laughed. That startled a laugh out of him and you grinned. “It was when the doctor called him a baby frog.”</p><p>“I didn’t know he was talking to you. The other Jedi said he could talk to her.”</p><p>You shook your head. “I didn’t know he could talk at all. It’s the first time I’ve heard him.” He hummed in acknowledgement. “I’ll have to add that to our training. It’ll be helpful if I can understand what he wants more.”</p><p>“More frogs and that ball of his, probably.” You laughed.</p><p>“Mando, you made a joke!”</p><p>“We do that occasionally,” he said crossly before waving a hand at the board. “Are you going to move or not?”</p><p>You made your move and the game continued, and you found you were able to coax more out of the Mandalorian as you played, asking leading questions about his past and previous bounties. Neither of you said a word about your hand never leaving his.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando Translation:<br/>Verd'ika: Little Soldier<br/>Ni kyr’tyl gai sa’ad: I know your name as my child.</p><p>Excuse me while I go drown myself because THEY HELD HANDS AND I CAN'T HANDLE IT.</p><p>I made a spotify of all the songs that I listen to when I've written the series! Hope you guys like it! <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fWB4Ii7iWD1ZQmuXUWaDy"> Stars Collide Playlist</a></p><p>Come visit me on Tumblr! <a>@AerinKebiinkads</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter Ten: 'Cause Girls Like You Run 'Round with Guys Like Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I’m angry that you fucked someone without talking to me,” he said shortly and yeah, that made sense. “I didn’t expect monogamy, but I expected at least the courtesy of you telling me. And not having to hear about it from Shand.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: Hrrrrrrgh, these two are KILLING ME.</p><p>This chapter took a wild twist and I really don’t know how I feel about it. Let me know what you think, and we can debate the ethics in the comment section or yell at me on tumblr, if you want. I think my writing style can best be described as Chaotic Buttonsmashing, and I’m not always sure what is going to come out, but it’s gotten me this far, hasn’t it?</p><p>Again, big shout out to my bestie Nicaw for listening to me agonize over this chapter. She keeps me on track and reminds me not to be so critical of myself on the daily. &lt;3 </p><p>Chapter Warnings: slight voyeurism. Warning for safety. If it bothers you, pick up at “Grogu coos at you”. Canon typical violence, reader gets hurt, etc</p><p>Song Inspo: Girls Like You – Maroon 5</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your relationship with Mando was…getting weird.</p><p>Some days, he acted like he did before, distant and wanting to be as far away from you as possible, only coming close to grab the kid, who had bounced back from his illness admirably and within two days was back to his mischievous ways. He spoke in grunts and helmet tilts that you were starting to be able to interpret and would run off to the cockpit until you were able to coax him out for a sparring session with the staffs.</p><p>But other days…it was like he couldn’t bring himself to leave your side. He followed you around like a puppy, helping carry things or sat by the engine bay and passed you tools after you finally managed to get him to let you tinker with the engine that honestly made you want to cry every time you saw it. He engaged with the games you played with Grogu or sat in the galley as you worked with the kid in the Force. On those days, it wasn’t uncommon for him to brush a hand across your back as he passed you or for his hand to linger just a little too long as he passed you something or took a plate from you. And that nickname he had for you, verd’ika. You had no idea what it meant, but he used it every chance he got.</p><p>It was slowly driving you insane.</p><p>You kept reminding yourself that this man was off limits, that he had thrown a galaxy sized tantrum when you slept with his lover, there was no way he was interested in <em>you</em>. It was embarrassing the amount of times a gentle touch, always with his gloves on, you had never even seen a sliver of his flesh, left your heart racing and your eyes following his lean figure as he walked away. If you didn’t know better, you would think he was doing it on purpose.</p><p>The days ticked by, as always falling into a routine. You would spend days in hyperspace, jetting from planet to planet, where Mando would go off to find a bounty, sometimes he would be gone for days at a time. You would hang around the ship with Grogu, continue your training and occasionally leave to explore whatever city you were parked in. It was fun and the kid enjoyed seeing the sights, babbling at you in his adorable little way.</p><p>You had been working with the kid to speak through the Force and some days you were successful. Some days it seemed like he wasn’t capable of it, like whatever had happened to him had traumatized him to the point that mentally he really was just a little baby. But others, he was able to speak to you in the Force and he told you about things that had happened to him. You learned he had been raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant before the Empire took over and he was hidden away. His memories of the time between then and when Mando rescued him were hazy, but he was always happy to babble about his dad. You told Mando whatever he told you, and you frequently found yourself the translator in a father-son conversation, which was so adorable it made you want to squeal with joy.</p><p>You were on Dantooine when you finally worked up the courage to ask Mando if you could go on a hunt with him. It was the final puck he had gotten from Greef, one of the ones he was not going to get paid for because of you. Peli had contacted you a week ago to tell you she sold the Sparrow and you had firmly told Mando that you were giving him a portion of the proceeds, no questions. He had tried to argue, but you had shut him down hard, pointing out that he could just put the money towards food for the kid, who ate enough for two of each of you, and if he didn’t take the credits, you were just going to buy the most expensive rifle you could find on the next world you landed on and put it in his gun cabinet. He had acquest after several arguments, but you had checked your account multiple times to make sure he didn’t try to transfer any back to you. He seemed like he would be sneaky like that.</p><p>You had just put a boot on the ladder to the cockpit to ask if you could come on the hunt when raised voices filtered down to you. You paused and waited, trying to hear what he was saying.</p><p>“What gave you the impression I was kriffing Omera?” he yelled, and you gripped the railing tightly, realizing he was finally talking to Fett. You weren’t sure who had contacted whom but given his firm stance on not ever talking about Fett, you figured Boba had commed him. Common sense told you that you should probably just go back to your room so he could have this conversation in private, but another part of you whispered that this fight involved you and you wanted to know the outcome, if only because you were worried that talking to Fett would set back the progress you had been making with the stoic Buckethead, and besides if he wanted privacy he should have closed the cockpit doors.</p><p>A low rumble was Fett’s reply, you weren’t quite able to make out what he said and carefully climbed a couple rings to hear better. Guilt at spying on him ate at you, but your curiosity won out, as usual.</p><p>“I’m not mad that you fucked her!” Mando said savagely and you flinched. That was a lie and you all knew it, he had been very clear that he was pissed his lover fucked someone else.</p><p>“<em>Kar’ta’ika</em>, I told you before, it meant nothing,” Fett’s voice rasped through the comm and you bristled. It meant nothing to either of you, just a chance to scratch an itch for both parties, but still, rude. “But I didn’t think you would want to join in, you kept her at arms-length the whole time we were together.”</p><p>Wait what?</p><p>Mando’s scoff echoed through his helmet and the ship and your heart thumped so loudly you were sure he could hear. “I doubt she would have said yes, but an invitation would have been nice. Have you seen the way she handles a blaster?”</p><p>Your world immediately collapsed and came back together, a confusing whirl of matter than made you feel like you were going insane. Mando…had wanted to join in? He was mad because Fett hadn’t tried to bring him in? That…didn’t make sense. Weeks of animosity, of cold shoulders and tiptoeing around him because he was…jealous?</p><p>“I’m angry that you fucked someone without talking to me,” he said shortly and yeah, that made sense. “I didn’t expect monogamy, but I expected at least the courtesy of you telling me. And not having to hear about it from <em>Shand.</em>”</p><p>Oh Maker, suddenly things made a lot more sense. You could understand his point, you would be angry too if you found out your lover was sleeping with someone else through the grapevine.</p><p>“What did you want me to say?” Fett said sharply. “Did you want me to tell you how she was? Give you a run down of how her mouth felt around my cock, how her tits bounced when I fucked her, how her pussy was so tight I almost lost it as soon as I put it in?”</p><p>You stifled a gasp at his vulgarity and slapped a hand over your mouth to prevent any noises from escaping. You heard Mando groan softly and you wished you were in the room, that you could see if Fett’s words affected him as much as they did you. You felt yourself get wet as the memories washed over you and you squeezed your thighs together to relieve some of the burning. You shouldn’t be listening to this; you should go back to your room and pretend you never heard a single word until Mando was off the ship. But Fett was still describing that night, telling him what he would have done to you both if Mando was there and Mando…kriffing <em>Stars</em> Mando was moaning as if he was dying. You didn’t know if it was just the erotic words rasped in Fett’s rough voice or if the thought of the two of you together while he watched was turning him on. And you desperately wanted to know.</p><p>The sound of beskar hitting the floor, of fabric rustling and a zipper being pulled down snapped you out of your revere and you clung to the ladder as Mando groaned louder. You imagined him wrapping a gloved hand around his hard cock and it took everything in you to stay still, to not barge into the cockpit and drop to your knees in front of him, offering him your mouth as Boba talked him through it.</p><p>“That’s it <em>Kar’ta’ika</em>, let me see you,” Boba’s voice rumbled through the ship. “You’re so kriffing pretty, touching yourself like that. Can’t wait to get my hands on you again. Bend you over the throne here and fuck you right. Would you like that? Maybe if you show me you are sorry for being such a brat, I will.”</p><p>“Fuck <em>Boba</em>,” Mando whines, and the word, the way he says it, the whine in his voice is so uncharacteristic of the stern man that it jolts you out of the haze of lust and you scramble down the ladder as quietly as you can before bolting for your room, slamming the door panel to lock behind you.</p><p>The only thing stopping you from shoving your hands down your own pants and rubbing your throbbing clit like a horny teenager is the kid is still in your room, giant eyes blinking at you in curiosity. You lean back against the door, letting your head thud back into the metal and take a few shaky breaths, trying to get yourself under control.</p><p>Grogu coos at you, raising his hands in a wordless demand to pick him up and you do, lifting him from the nest of blankets he had made on your cot and collapsing onto the bed, cuddling him close.</p><p>“Your dad is going to be the death of me, monster,” you tell him softly, stroking his ears as you think about what you just heard. He warbles his agreement and pats your face, giggling when you make a face at him. You decide that taking the cowards way out and pretending you had not heard a single word of the conversation was the best course of action. But that didn’t stop you from <em>thinking about it.</em></p><p>The way Mando had sounded, even from a distance and through his helmet, the moans that had rippled through the vocoder. The way Fett had talked to him, telling him every detail of your encounter. How your skin had felt against his, how tight and wet you had been, how you had fought him for dominance and had let him manhandle you into different positions, how you had let him come inside you three times that night, and how he had wanted to share it with Mando.</p><p>That last part had startled you when you heard it, had nearly made you lose your hold on the ladder when the image had overwhelmed you. You had never had two men at once, but the thought wouldn’t leave you alone, fantasies of Fett and Mando passing you between them, taking you at the same time as one fucked your sopping pussy and the other rammed down your throat.</p><p>You groaned and rubbed a hand over your face, suddenly remembering that you had Mando’s <em>kriffing kid with you</em> and the last thing you should be doing with a child sitting next to you, happily playing with the lapels of your shirt and the straps of the underarm gun harness you had never returned to Mando was fantasize about the kid’s father.</p><p><em>Get it together, idiot,</em> you scold yourself as you busy yourself with gathering the toys and blankets the kid had scattered across your tiny room, awkwardly making the bed with one hand as Grogu clung to you, babbling at you in whatever frog baby language he knew. You felt him poking at your thoughts, attempting to communicate with you and for the first time, you didn’t open your mind to him, keeping the mental link you had formed with him firmly shut so he couldn’t pick up on your confused and lust addled thoughts. No need to traumatize the kid.</p><p>It was probably thirty minutes later when Mando knocked on the door and you almost dropped the kid in surprise. Reluctantly, you opened the door and stared Mando down.</p><p>He looked as put together as always, flightsuit in place, beskar shining softly under the fluorescent track lights, not at all like he had just had comm sex with the galaxy’s fiercest bounty hunter. You fought the flush that started at your toes and washed across your entire body until your ears burned.</p><p>“I’m headed out, should be back tonight or tomorrow,” he said gruffly, reaching out a hand to stroke the kid’s head. Grogu purred at his father and reached out tiny hands for him. You passed him to the Mandalorian carefully, doing your best to not touch any part of him. If Mando noticed anything different about your exchange, he didn’t say anything, taking the kid and cradling him close to his chest.</p><p>Suddenly you remembered the whole reason you had been eavesdropping in the first place and cleared your throat, gearing up to ask.</p><p>“Can I come with you?” you ask quickly, doing your best to stamp your raging libido into the dust. “You said its an easy bounty, just some small timers the guild wanted off the books, right? I’m the reason you have to do them, I can help.”</p><p>Mando stared you down and you fought another rush of blood, hoping he would take any sign of your unease as anticipation and not you wanting to jump him right there with his kid in his arms. Stars, you were pathetic, what happened to hating this man, he had captured you, remember? Cuffed you and thrown you into a cell like a common criminal then given you a no-win solution of either working for him or being sent to your possible death by the Imps. Did you really have no standards left?</p><p>“I bought a new carrier for the kid, so he can stay close and not get loose to cause chaos, like he does in the egg,” you tell him, pulling out the tangle of cloth to show him. He still didn’t say anything and you struggled to hide your disappointment. Of course he wasn’t going to let you come, what a stupid question. You were here to be a teacher for his kid, nothing else. You shrugged and gave him a small smile. “It was just a thought. Here, let me take him so you can go…”</p><p>“You have to swear that you will listen to everything I say the first time,” he finally said, and you can’t help the grin that breaks out across your face. “If I say run, you drop everything and run back to the ship, okay? No grandstanding, listen to everything I say and don’t draw your weapon unless I tell you.” You nod eagerly, ready to agree to any terms.</p><p>“I swear, I’ll listen to you,” you agree without argument. He walked you carefully, helmet dipping up and down as he surveyed you, as if he was thinking something over.</p><p>“And if you get even a hint of a feeling, you tell me immediately, okay?” You nod, of course, that made sense. Your second sense, which you were coming to understand was the Force whispering to you, had saved your ass more than once, you always listened to it. He grunted and turned away, stalking to the weapons cabinet to pull out your guns. He was already suited up, ready to leave and you hurried to catch up, strapping the baby carrier to your back, taking the kid and easing him into the harness despite his protests. The carrier rested comfortably over your holsters, but with the kid on your back you weren’t able to strap on the electrostaff, so you opted to carry it like a walking stick instead. You tucked some snacks for the kid in one of your pockets, double checking your knives and blasters before turning to the Mandalorian for inspection.</p><p>He eyed you critically, occasionally reaching out to tug on a strap, asking you to turn so he could see how the kid sat on your back.</p><p>“We’ll need to find something to put back here to protect him, but it looks like it should work,” he said eventually, stepping back and eyeing you once more. “Keep your comm on you at all times.” You grinned, hoisting your staff and striking what you hoped was a fierce pose, for all you had a baby strapped to your back. A soft noise, so low you barely heard it, filtered through the mask, but you had heard it before, a quiet laugh and your heart sang. You were really doing this, going on a bounty hunt!</p><p>You followed him out the ship, all thoughts about the morning lost as the anticipation of the hunt filled you. Of the many jobs you had had over the years, you had never been a hunter. Freight hauler, bodyguard, smuggler, soldier, drug runner, mechanic, now reluctant teacher and babysitter, all were familiar mantles. But this was something <em>new</em>, something exciting to learn and master and the anticipation sang through your veins like the finest Alderaanian wine. You were going to learn from one of the fiercest bounty hunters in the sector, and you couldn’t <em>wait</em>.</p><p>*****</p><p>Bounty hunting, as it turned out, was a lot of combing side streets and trawling shitty cantinas, asking a lot of questions and getting the runaround more often than not. It was actually…kind of boring.</p><p>You trudged a few steps behind Mando, doing your best to keep your steps even as the kid slept on your back. Your companion hadn’t said a word to you in hours, speaking in curt, clipped tones to people in the cantinas the blinking puck in his hand lead him to, barely long enough to get the information he needed before heading out to his next destination. You had long ago given up on trying to hold some sort of conversation with him, his silence to your many questions all the answer you needed. Kriff, you wanted to know what was going on behind that faceless bucket.</p><p>Suddenly he stopped and held up a hand, staring into the darkness that had fallen a couple hours ago. The street lights shone off his armor as he stood stock still, helmet the only thing that moved as he scanned the quiet streets. You almost wanted to ask what was going on, but held your tongue, his rigid stance telling you enough to keep quiet. You gripped the electrostaff, spread out your senses, trying to see what he was seeing. There was something there, just ahead of you, someone hiding in a dark alley. You glanced at the puck in Mando’s hand and the rapid blinking of the red light confirmed your thoughts. The bounty was close.</p><p>“Stay here, I’ll be back,” Mando said quietly, pointing to a stack of boxes left outside a boarded-up shop. You adjusted your grip on the staff to pull out a blaster and nodded, dropping into a crouch behind the boxes, keeping a wary eye out as you followed Mando with your blaster, ready to provide cover fire if needed. You doubted it was necessary, from what little you knew this guy was a pencil pusher, wanted for embezzlement. Such a white-collar crime, decent pay off, but easy enough, most hunters like Mando would skip over it. You wondered again why Greef had chosen this bounty as one of Mando’s free marks.</p><p>There was a short scuffle when Mando entered the alley, you could barely hear him rasp out, “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold,” as he took down the mark. You relaxed as he came out of the alley with a rumpled human in cuffs, babbling and trying to bribe his captor. You stood and snorted, amused by his pleading.</p><p>“Oh miss, please help me! I haven’t done anything! I have money, a lot of money, it’s yours if you just help me go!” the bounty pleaded when he saw you. You smiled, a dark smile that many had seen before their end.</p><p>“That was easy, huh Mando?” you asked as you fell in step with the Mandalorian, prodding the bounty with your staff as he tried to fall to his knees. “He’ll just drag you if you don’t get up, friend,” you said to the man. “Come on, face your fate like a man.”</p><p>The man got his feet under him as Mando continued to march him down the street and you whistled a merry tune as you walked, pleased with the outcome of the night. It had been boring sure, but it was something new and you always enjoyed trying new things.</p><p>You were so caught up in the high of capturing the bounty, you almost missed the warning through the Force. A sharp, sour feeling of danger and you whipped around, shoving Mando to the side and bringing your staff up just in time to catch the vibroblade that had been aimed at the kid on your back.</p><p>Your attacker was dressed in all black, humanoid but features covered by a thick mask so you couldn’t confidently say they were human. You ducked as a blaster bolt whizzed by you, bringing your staff up to slam into the side of his head, knocking the knife out of his hand as you did, hitting the electrodes so he received a full blast to the temple. He dropped like a stone, but you were already moving, following Mando as he swung down another alley, firing at another attacker behind you.</p><p>You slid in behind Mando, hitting the sobbing bounty with your staff on stun to silence him, blaster out as you leaned around Mando’s legs to fire at the four dark figures that were advancing on your position. You glanced up at Mando, noting that he had worn the jetpack on this trip. But there was no way that thing could carry all four of you out of here. You were either going to have to leave the bounty or fight your way out.</p><p>You were lining up your next shot when a blaze of pain ripped through you and you screamed, tipping forward as the knife was ripped out of your stomach. Fuck, there was another on behind you. You tried to roll to keep your attacker away from the kid, who had been worryingly quiet this entire time, grabbing a knife of your own and struggling to wield it as someone jumped on you, wrestling you to the ground as they stabbed you in the shoulder, slicing through a strap of the carrying harness. A blaster sounded right near your head and you sobbed with relief as the body above you went limp, shot through by Mando. You barely registered as rough hands grabbed you under the arms and dragged you deeper into the alley, only caring about keeping pressure on the knife wound on your stomach. You felt the kid’s weight roll away from your back, the harness loose enough for him to slip out and you grabbed for him as he rolled away.</p><p>“Dank Farrick, there’s to many,” you heard Mando pant through his helmet as he fired at the mouth of the alley. You tried to keep a hold on your blaster while keeping pressure on your stomach and keeping a hold on the kid, but it was a losing battle. You were just lifting your hand to grab tighter to the kid, who was starting to cry now that he was free and could see all the chaos, when something rolled into the alley. You had enough presence of mind to curl yourself around the kid, rolling away, felt the weight of the Mandalorian coming down to shield you, when there was a bright light and the world erupted in flames.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando'a Translation:<br/>Kar'ta'ika: Little Heart, bastardized</p><p>So I am back to work and I hate it. Two weeks of freedom, even if I was sick as a dog, was amazing and I’m not ready to go back.</p><p>Pity party aside, I am swamped with work and updates will probably be much slower for now. I think I’m going to aim for updating twice a week, if I can, probably Wednesdays and Sundays. If I can update between then, I absolutely will, but for now I’m going to shoot for those days as I get back into a normal routine. My bf is about to change jobs too, so that may throw some kinks in the schedule, we’ll see. I’m sad that I won’t be able to keep up my daily or every other day updates, but real life waits for no one. ☹ Love you babies and thank you so much for all the love and comments you leave, they give me life!!</p><p>Visit me on Tumblr! @AerinKebiinkads</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter Eleven: Show Me All the Scars You Hide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Each time you surfaced, something new caught your attention, but the overwhelming pain chased you back into strange, twisted dreams. Dreams filled with screams and red streaks of blaster fire, of white armor and black rifles, of your mother screaming for you to run, run, RUN far away and hide.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fennec is amazing, I adore her and would die for her. Anyone who disagrees can kiss my ass.</p><p>Are these three finally getting their heads out of their asses? Maybe, I guess we will see!</p><p>Song Inspo: Stand By You - Rachel Platten</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Flames.</p><p>Pain.</p><p>The smell of charred flesh.</p><p>A child’s cry.</p><p>Each time you surfaced, something new caught your attention, but the overwhelming pain chased you back into strange, twisted dreams. Dreams filled with screams and red streaks of blaster fire, of white armor and black rifles, of your mother screaming for you to run, <em>run, RUN</em> far away and hide.</p><p>Sometimes you clawed yourself to wakefulness, throat raw from your own screams, only to be soothed by gentle hands, large and warm, that stroked your hair and a deep, quiet voice that spoke soft words in a language you didn’t understand. The cold tingle of bacta spray would startle you, or the sharp pinch of a syringe, pumping you full of drugs that drew you down, down, down, back to blissful blankness. Sometimes, you felt three tiny fingers clinging to your skin, and a tiny voice whispering in your head, begging you to wake up.</p><p>But each time, you sank back into the drift of sleep, the star-streaked darkness of the Force, and dreamed.</p><p>*****</p><p>There was sunlight shining through an open window when you opened your eyes.</p><p>Blinking sluggishly, you looked around, taking in unfamiliar beige walls, felt the slip of soft sheets under your skin. With a groan, you tried to roll over, gritting your teeth when a wave of dull pain washed over you. Falling back, you lifted your right arm and frowned at the clean white bandages that engulfed your arm from fingers to shoulder, the faint tingle of bacta dancing over your skin. You pressed your unbandaged hand into your stomach where you had been stabbed and winced, feeling the pull of a healing wound. You face ached and you felt the pull of bandages over your cheek and neck. You looked up when a door whooshed open and Fennec walked in.</p><p>A bright smile lit up her normally stoic face and she crossed the room to perch on the edge of your bed.</p><p>“There you are, Witchling. We were starting to worry about you.” She checked your bandages with gentle fingers, and you suppressed another wince when her fingers pressed into your stomach. “You’re healing well. Mando and that critter of his were worried sick.”</p><p>“Where…” you stopped and swallowed, throat dry as the Dune Sea. Fennec raised a bottle of water to your lips and you swallowed greedily, wincing when your skin pulled the damage on your face, whining pathetically when it was empty.</p><p>“Don’t worry, there’s more,” she chuckled and waved another bottle in your face. You grabbed it with your free hand and tried to twist the top off one handed, before she opened it for you, and you guzzled it down as quickly as the first. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Like I got hit by a grenade,” you croaked, clearing your throat. “Where is the kid? Is he okay? Is Mando okay? How…how did we get here?”</p><p>“Mando brought you, he’s doing better, the kid is totally fine. Mando took the brunt of the explosion, that beskar of his can take a beating, but you got caught in it and you didn’t have the protection of armor. I’m fairly sure Fett is scouring the galaxy to find enough beskar to make you a full berserker suit,” Fennec chuckled. She gripped your unbandaged fingers tightly. “We were really worried about you. Mando said the kid did some of his voodoo shit to heal as much as he could, but the damage was…extensive.”</p><p>“How bad was it?” you asked softly, afraid of the answer.</p><p>Fennec studied your face, emotions ticking over her face so quickly you were suddenly frightened that something had gone seriously wrong. Was your arm bandaged because they had to replace it with cybernetics, like Fett had her abdomen?</p><p>“Well…I’m afraid you won’t win any beauty contests…” Fennec drew the words out and you sucked in a ragged breath, “…but since you weren’t going to before, I think you’ll be just fine.”</p><p>You blinked, processing her words, before a wide grin broke across her face and she snorted with laughter. “I’m joking Witchling, you are going to be just fine. The kid’s magic crap saved you from that stab wound and the worst of the burns, and Mando had bacta spray on the ship that kept you stable until you got here. Fett had the best medics on Tatooine working on you, a few more days of rest and you should be good as new. The skin damage shouldn’t even scar as long as you keep these bacta patches on, thank the Maker. You’re gonna have some wicked scars from the knife wounds though.”</p><p>“Bitch,” you said, words lacking any malice as you glared at her. “That’s a mean trick. I’m fucking gorgeous.”</p><p>“You are, but the look on your face was worth it,” she said cheerfully, fiddling with the bandages around your fingers until she unwrapped enough to show you the skin underneath.</p><p>The skin was pink and incredibly sensitive to touch, nerves still healing from being set on fire, but free of any burn scars. You turned your hand over a few times to examine your hand before letting your hand drop back to the bed. You struggled to sit up, groaning as strong hands helped you up, fluffing the pillows up behind you as you leaned back.</p><p>“The kid’s okay?” you asked, wanting confirmation. She nodded and climbed into the bed so she could lie by your unbandaged side and prop up next to you.</p><p>“Not a scratch on him, you saved him,” she agreed, messing with some controls beside the bed until a holoscreen flickered to life at the end of the bed and she scrolled through the options until some crap holofilm came on. “Mando and Fett took him with them to Mos Eisley to bring back something or other, they should be back in a few hours and Mando will be back at your side. He hasn’t left since he woke up, they both have been hovering like mother hens. Fett was driving me crazy running between both of your rooms. I had to kick them out of the palace with a blaster this morning.”</p><p>You snorted at the image of Fennec chasing the Mandalorians from your sick bed with a blaster, then groaned when the noise jolted your insides. “I’m glad the kid’s okay. And Mando’s okay too?”</p><p>“Oh, Buckethead is fine,” she agreed, snagging a blanket at the foot of the bed and drawing it over you, tucking it carefully under your bandaged arm. “He had several burns too, and a monster bruise from the explosion, but that beskar really saved his life. Everyone was far more worried about you.” She caught your chin and examined your face, checking that the patches didn’t need changing. “You did a very brave thing, protecting the kid like that.”</p><p>“I did what anyone would have done,” you replied, embarrassed by the praise. “I’m just glad we all made it out alive.”</p><p>She hummed and grinned at you before tucking an arm around your shoulders companionably. “I’m just glad Buckethead and Fett made up, I was worried we were going to have to throw them in a room and lock the door. A pair of lothcats in heat, the both of them.”</p><p>The image of the two Mandalorians with giant cat ears and lashing tails had the laughter bubbling up and the two of you laughed together before you settled to watch the cheesy holofilm playing. You found yourself drifting off not long after, lulled by the warmth of your friend by your side.</p><p>“Missed you, Fenn,” you murmured as you sank into sleep and you felt her arm tighten around you as you slipped into sleep.</p><p>“Miss you too, Witchling.”</p><p>*****</p><p>It was night when you woke again, stomach rumbling. Fennec was gone, but Mando was slumped in a chair by your bedside, helmet tilted forward into his chest, breathing slowly. He wasn’t wearing any of his armor, just his helmet, a black flight suit and gloves. You didn’t think you had ever seen him without his armor and you were surprised that he was still intimidatingly large even without the heavy beskar steel, dwarfing the chair he was slouched in. You tried to sit up but groaned when you put weight on your damaged hand and fire shot up your healing nerves. Mando startle awake, drawing a blaster from seemingly nowhere as he jerked from sleep. He scanned the room for threats before realizing it was just you and quickly holstered the weapon before he started to reach for you.</p><p>“You’re awake,” he said softly, surprisingly gentle fingers checking your bandages much like Fennec had. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Starving mostly,” you quipped, sitting up and rubbing a hand over the unbandaged side of your face. You ran your fingers through your hair and frowned when you realized half of your hair was shaved off. “I must look a mess.”</p><p>“You look like a woman who got into a firefight protecting her charge,” he said firmly, and you felt the warmth of the praise spread through you. “<em>Mesh’la</em>, I’m sorry, I should have been more alert, on the lookout for an attack.”</p><p>“No, don’t do that,” you replied stubbornly. “We made it out, didn’t we? The kid’s okay, everyone has all their limbs and Fenn said I should make a full recovery. Can’t ask for more than that. Are you okay?”</p><p>He nodded jerkily and you could tell he wanted to argue with you but thought better of it. Instead, he stood and walked to a panel by the door, pressing a comm button and requesting someone send up a plate for you. Now that he wasn’t dominating your line of sight, you realized Fett was slumped in the corner of the room in an armchair, the kid curled up on his chest, fast asleep.  Fennec hadn’t been joking that they were hovering like a pair of mother hens. Mando crossed to his side and shook him awake. The older man came awake with a jerk, eyes darting to you and rising to cross to your side when he saw you were awake, carefully keeping the kid tucked close to his side. Like Mando, he was not wearing his armor, but he had removed his helmet and his dark eyes swept over you as he took your free hand, rubbing this thumb over your knuckles.</p><p>“Finally awake, <em>verd’ika</em>?” he said softly, double checking your bandages like the others had. You huffed grumpily, already tired of being treated like an invalid.</p><p>“I’m fine, I’m just hungry,” you said, trying to keep the irritation out of your voice. “Fenn said I was going to be fine.”</p><p>The men exchanged a look and Mando approached to gently grip your chin and pry the bandages away from your face. They studied the skin beneath and you frowned up at them before jerking your face away.</p><p>“I’m <em>fine</em>, just sore,” you repeated, stifling a groan when you tried to sit up. Mando jumped to help you up, large hands gentle as he helped you ease back on the pillows. “You two really are a pair of mother hens, aren’t you?”</p><p>“We were worried, the doctors said you might have lost the arm if the kid hadn’t done his Jedi stuff on you,” Mando said shortly and you let your gaze rest on the kid, still snuggled into Boba’s arms. You made a grabby motion towards him with your free hand and he carefully transferred him into your arms. You cuddled the kid as best you could with one arm, carefully tracing your bandaged fingers over his tiny forehead. He grunted in his sleep and burrowed into your chest, making small, sleepy baby noises that made your heart twinge.</p><p>“I’m just glad he’s safe. I’d do it again any day to make sure he is okay,” you said softly. Mando reached out to grip your shoulder and you tilted your head up to look into the dark visor of his helmet.</p><p>“Don’t say shit like that, <em>Mesh’la</em>,” he said earnestly. The pain in his voice was reflected in Boba’s eyes as he nodded and rested a hand on your knee over the blankets, squeezing softly. “It was…awful.”</p><p>“Mando was a mess when he commed me,” Boba said softly. “You were both in pretty bad shape when the <em>Crest</em> landed.”</p><p>“How did you get us back to the ship?” you asked curiously. If Mando was hurt as badly as you were, you couldn’t imagine he had been in any condition to get you anywhere.</p><p>“The kid, he healed me first,” Mando said softly, stroking the kid’s ears, fingers bumping against yours. “Enough for me to use the jetpack to get us back to the ship. He’s stronger than he used to be, all the practice with you is paying off; after he healed me enough to move, he managed to heal to worst of your wounds too. The stab wound worried me the most, there was…so much blood.”</p><p>The door beeped, interrupting any further discussion and Boba rose to take the tray from the servant on the other side, issuing quiet orders that he would not be holding an audience today. You frowned, not sure what that meant.</p><p>Mando gently took Grogu from you when Boba set the tray in your lap and you frowned again at the contents. It was extravagant; real meat cut into small pieces, some kind of steamed vegetable that was a vibrant shade of green, a roll of bread that gleamed with butter, fresh fruit chopped up in a cup and more water and a glass of blue milk. You made a face at the milk, but dug in eagerly, hunger overriding your curiosity at the ridiculous meal.</p><p>“Fett took over Jabba’s palace and crime syndicate,” Mando informed you as you ate, and you looked up at the scarred man in surprise. He shrugged, settling at the foot of the bed as Mando took the chair again. “Thinks he’s some kind of king now.”</p><p>“I <em>am</em> a king now,” Boba said shortly, glaring at the other man and you smiled around a mouthful of bread.</p><p>“King of sand and criminals,” Mando teased and you laughed softly.</p><p>“So, this is the palace, huh?” you asked as you ate, looking around and realizing for the first time the room was decorated quite elaborately. The beige walls were hung with expensive art, there was two doors on the opposite wall, one cracked open enough to show a tiled fresher done up in shades of blue. A few plump chairs were scattered across the large room as well as massive lounging couches tucked against the walls. The bed you were lying in was massive as well, you realized, the sheets and pillows soft as silk and the mattress was like lying on a cloud. You suddenly realized the clothes you were wearing were silk as well, soft shorts and a thin strapped camisole in a pale green. You shifted slightly, hoping it had been Fennec that had changed you. You gripped the blanket covering your legs and smirked at Boba. “Fancy. Don’t get too stuck up for us little folk.”</p><p>Mando snorted, vocoder crackling as he laughed. “You should see the throne this asshole has in downstairs.”</p><p>“It was built for a hutt,” Boba shot back mildly, mischief dancing in his dark eyes. He stole a piece of fruit from your tray and you brandished your fork at him. “Too much work to get rid of it. I kind of like it.”</p><p>“Of course you do,” Mando said cheekily and you smiled as they fell to bickering as you finished your meal. You ate every scrap, and even drank most of the blue milk after Boba nudged it closer to you, though you glared at him over every sip. He took the tray from you and set it outside the room before returning to stand at the foot of the bed, eyes running over you as you yawned and stretched, wincing at the pull of abused nerves.</p><p>“I want a shower before I go back to sleep,” you told them both, carefully swinging your legs over the edge of the bed. Boba gave you an arm to lean on as you stood on wobbly legs, wincing when you put weight on your right leg. Your thigh was bandaged like your arm was, stark white bacta bandages peeking out from under the hem of your shorts and you frowned down at them. You might need some help with all these wrappings before you could get into the shower.</p><p>“Careful, the doctor said you had to be gentle for another few days,” he said gently as he helped you across the room to the fresher. Mando disappeared out the door with the kid as you left.</p><p>Boba helped you to the edge of a massive tub, carved from an unfamiliar blue stone that matched the blue tile on the floor and walls of the fresher. You looked around curiously as he slowly unwrapped your fingers and arm, trying to distract yourself from the slight burn as the new skin was exposed to air for the first time. The fresher was just as ornate as the bedroom, gleaming blue tiles, a massive two sink cabinet with a polished white and blue marble top. Several bottles and knick-knacks were scattered across the countertop and you frowned when you saw a few knives lying next to the sink, looking around and seeing the bottles of shampoo and body wash in the multi-headed shower stall, all in masculine scents. A set of black robes were lying on the floor in the corner, suspiciously like the ones Boba favored.</p><p>“Boba is this your room?” you asked softly as he knelt to remove the bandages on your leg. He grunted and refused to look you in the eye, and you took that as your answer. “Why…”</p><p>“Most defensible room in the place,” he said shortly. “Fennec wanted you somewhere safe while you recovered.”</p><p>“Uh huh,” you murmured, letting him help you stand. You hesitated before pulling off your shirt and wiggling the shorts from your hips. It was nothing he hadn’t seen before. He averted his eyes, careful to keep his hands in polite places as he helped you into the shower. There was a seat built into the blue stone and you sank onto it gratefully as he fiddled with the controls until a warm spray cascaded from the three shower heads. You hissed as the water, warm but not hot, hit your tender skin. He hesitated before he left the shower, black robes getting soaked as he stood under the spray, staring down at you as you wiggled in the warm water, wincing as the gentle spray set your nerves alight with sensation.</p><p>“Can you…I mean I can’t…” you made a vague gesture at the bottles of soap; well aware you wouldn’t be able to manipulate them. He stared at you for a moment longer before shrugging and shucking his robes off, keeping his underwear on out of a weird sense of propriety, since you were completely naked in front of him, tossing them out of the shower to land with a wet splat on the tiled floor.</p><p>He was a perfect gentleman as he helped you wash, callused hands surprisingly gentle as he helped you wash, spreading the soap over your abused skin and scrubbing shampoo into your hair. You winced when his fingers scrapped against your shaved scalp, the skin there just as tender as the rest of your body. You were both silent as he helped you wash, careful to keep his body in front of most of the spray to keep it from hitting your skin, wringing a washcloth over the new skin to wash the suds away.</p><p>Your eyes never left his as he helped you, trying to understand what had changed, why he was being so gentle, why he and Mando were acting like you were something precious they had to protect. It was hardly the first time you had been hurt in battle; the scars scattered across your body were proof of that. He paid the old scars just as much attention as your tender skin and the new, jagged pink scars on your stomach and your shoulder, gentle hands swiping over them as if he was trying to wipe them away. You were missing something, something important, and it frustrated you, like you were having two different conversations and only one was the right one.</p><p>Eventually, you were clean and he turned to shut off the water and you were so sleepy, lulled by the drugs still coursing through your system, the warmth of the shower and his gentle touch, that you found yourself leaning into him, nuzzling your face into his skin as he gently toweled you off, wrapped new bandages around your limbs, coaxed you into a fresh pair of pajamas, and carefully picked you up and carried you back to bed, too exhausted to protest being carried. Mando was back, settled into the chair by the side of the bed, Grogu nowhere in sight, so you assumed he had put him to bed somewhere. Their soft voices lulled you further into sleep, though you surfaced enough to whine when Boba’s warmth left you when he tucked you in bed.</p><p>“Noooo, come back,” you slurred, fighting your way out of sleep to make grabby hands at him. A warm body settled next to you and you snuggled into the warmth, draping your bandaged arm over a rough cloth covered stomach, murmuring happily as a gloved hand came up to stroke your shoulder carefully over the bandages. There was a shuffling noise, something you couldn’t identify as you slipped further into sleep, the bed dipping behind you as another warm body slid close, scarred lips pressing a gentle kiss to your cheek.</p><p>“Sleep <em>Mesh’la</em>,” you heard rumbled through a vocoder and you allowed yourself to relax and drift back into dreams.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando'a Translation:<br/>Mesh'la: Beautiful<br/>Verd'ika: Little Soldier</p><p>Visit me on Tumblr! <a>@AerinKebiinkads</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter Twelve: If All I've Got Is Your Hand in My Hand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Mando, you are a terrible pilot and your ship is 99% spare parts,” you deadpanned.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First of all, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, life kind of exploded when I went back to work and I lost all my inspiration, then my cat deleted everything and its just been a mess. Thank you all so much for being so patient with me and leaving all your sweet comments! I try to reply to them all, it may just take me a bit to get to them. Love you all!</p><p>Everyone please give a big, huge, mega shoutout to Fae-Monster for being amazing, listening to me rant and helping me out with the plot! She’s awesome and deserves all the love!!</p><p>Song Inspo: Die a Happy Man - Nelly</p><p>EDITS 3/21/21:<br/>Hey guys, so I have been messing around with these stories in my very limited free time, and I realized that in order to make If I'm On Fire work smoothly, some things had to be changed in When Stars Collide. I tried to keep the edits as minimal as possible, but there are definitely some, this chapter of Fire and the first 2 chapters of Stars. Since the edits in this chapter are in the middle of the chapter, I have marked them with a *. I hope you guys enjoy them, and I will have the next chapter out soon, I swear! Much love!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>You were so warm, you never wanted to wake up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When you finally roused yourself enough to open your eyes the sun was streaming through the high windows and you found yourself tucked in between two slumbering Mandalorians. Your head was resting on Mando’s chest, his arm wrapped around your shoulders loosely as he slept, helmet turned towards the other occupant of the bed. Boba was pressed up against your back, head buried in your hair, curled around you tightly, one of his arms thrown over you and Mando both, holding tight to Mando’s flight suit in sleep. Your legs were trapped between his, the blankets drawn up tightly over the three of you and you couldn’t remember the last time you woke up feeling so safe and secure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Force hummed in contentment around you as you lay there, absorbing the feeling of safety, listening to the faint snores of the two men. Your skin tingled under the bandages and you were eager to get them off, but you kept still, luxuriating in the closeness. It was nice, being in the middle of this odd little sandwich. You breathed in Mando’s scent, gun oil, blaster fire, the taste of metal on the back on your throat from the beskar and something uniquely him under the other scents, something spicy and </span>
  <em>
    <span>male</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The quiet and the closeness were soothing, you shifted slightly to pull Mando closer to you and allowed yourself to drift back off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When you woke again, Mando was still there but Boba was gone. You lifted your head a little, saw that he was reading a holopad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you reading?” you asked sleepily, burrowing your face against his flightsuit. His arm tightened around you, stroking your side before he lowered the pad so you could see the projection. Upgrades for the pulse rifle, how original.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you read anything other than weapons specs?” you grumbled, sitting up so you could stretch, marveling that your skin didn’t tingle nearly as much as it did the last time you woke up. You fiddled with the edges of your wrappings to undo them as best you could with one hand before gloved hands took over and carefully helped you unwrap the bandages.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You found yourself staring at the dark slit of his visor, which was trained down at your arm as he slowly unwound the white strips of fabric, free hand wrapped lightly around your wrist. You wondered what he looked like under the helmet, if his eyes were dark or light, if he let his hair grow long or kept it cut short. Gold flashed in the corner of your eye and you realized he wasn’t wearing his cloak and you could see a sliver of golden skin between the collar of his flight suit and the rim of his helmet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You couldn’t look away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You had been traveling with him for months, been living in each other’s pockets for weeks just the two of you and his tiny green son in that tin can he called a ship, and you had never seen even a tiny sliver of his skin. He was religious about wearing his armor at all times around you, pun fully intended. You knew enough about his culture to know it was as sacred to him as any religion, the creed to never allow anyone to see his face, to wear the beskar armor with pride and honor. As far as you knew, the kid was the first person he had shown his face to in decades.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Your fingers itched to reach up and trace the patch of skin and you clenched your free hand to stop yourself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mando caught your movement and stopped, fingers gentle as they smoothed over your skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay, did I hurt you?” he asked anxiously and you realized he thought he had been too rough. You shook your head and cleared your throat; afraid your voice would crack if you answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fingers inspected your arm a bit more before he resumed unwrapping, carefully peeling the last of the wrap away from your shoulder. He had you turn this way and that, inspecting the new tender skin. You marveled over the way the medics put you back together, from what you understood they had had to submerged your burns in bacta so they would heal smoothly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looks good,” he said and you nodded. “You…look good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” you said softly, suddenly extremely aware that you were wearing only thin pajamas and he was completely without his armor, which may as well be naked for the stoic man, mere inches from each other on the bed. You were very aware of your hands, wringing them in your lap as you both continued to stare at each other. His helmet dipped to watch your hands before he took them in his, the smooth leather of the gloves skating over your skin as he held them still. It made you think of quiet noises in the cockpit of the Crest the morning before the ambush. You felt your skin heat and bit down on your lip to avoid saying something stupid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard you, that morning,” you blurted out, the words tumbling out before you ever realized they had darted across your mind. You suddenly couldn’t breathe, horrified by your own words. He froze, that unnatural stillness that had once half-convinced you he was a droid. “I didn’t mean to,” you hurried on, gripping his hands before he could unfreeze enough to pull them away. “I was coming up to the cockpit to ask if I could come with you and I…heard…some…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How much…did you hear?” he rasped, so soft the vocoder barely picked it up. His fingers tightened around yours and a tiny knot unraveled in your chest. He wasn’t running away from you, so that was a good start?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard…Fett tell you it wasn’t anything, which it wasn’t, we already talked that out,” you added on, hoping to remind him that the two of you were good. “And then…I heard you say you wish you had been there.” The silence stretched between you, anxiety running up your spine and you fidgeted under the gaze of the helmet. “Did you?” you ask softly, almost afraid of the answer. “Wish you were there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” he said quickly, harshly, like it was ripped out of him. He shifted and let go of one of your hands to grip your waist, fingers digging into your skin. “Fuck, I was so mad, and I couldn’t figure out why. And then we sparred, that first time.” You scooted closer, lifting a leg to swing over his and straddle his lap, steading yourself on his chest. Both of his hands came up to grip your waist before one started skating up your shirt. “You kept jumping back up, no matter how many times I beat you. And I realized I wanted you.” You arched your chest forward as smooth leather teased your breast before pinching your nipple sharply. Finally, you give into the urge you’ve been fighting for a while and twine your arms around his neck, digging your fingers into the exposed skin. He jerked, like he wasn’t expecting you to touch him and you dipped your head to press a soft kiss into his neck, mouthing gently over his pulse point, feeling the way his blood thundered in his veins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, verd’ika, I can’t…” he groaned, pulling you closer to him, rolling his hips into yours. You moaned when you felt him, half hard through the thick fabric of his pants. “I can’t…need to…fuck stop stop stop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You froze at his words before you drew back, resting your hands on his shoulders so you could scoot back. “What? Is it…too much?” You didn’t want to do anything he didn’t want to do, but you had thought he was just as into it as you were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was breathing hard, helmet dipped down so you couldn’t catch his eye for a moment before he looked up. “I need to talk to Boba,” he said quietly. “I can’t do this without…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand,” you cut him off gently, and you did. Mando was many things, gruff, slow to make friends, a born killer, held a long grudge. But he was honorable, in his own way, and you had never known him to break his word. If the talk with Boba had led to them getting back together, he wouldn’t want to do anything without talking to his partner. Carefully, you climbed out of his lap and moved away, still on the bed but not touching him. You crossed your legs and rested a hand on your chin, watching him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you too,” you said simply, after you just stared at each other for a while. “I don’t understand it, I hated you when we first met. But…I don’t know. You’ve grown on me, Mando.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laughed softly, shifting so he was propped against the pillows, arms folded across his chest. You did your best to ignore the way his lean frame looked in the tight fibreweave flightsuit he wore under all that armor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you were cute when you sat down at Peli’s table, smarting off as soon as you opened your mouth,” he said, the sarcasm thick even through the vocoder. “If I hadn’t had the kid, I might have just tried to go home with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You drew a blaster on me!” you cried, indignant. “No way would I have taken you back to my rooms.” You shoot him a sly grin as he started to protest. “Might have had some fun in the alley, though.” You snicker together like kids sharing a dirty secret, amused by yourselves. The silence that falls is comfortable, just like it was on the Crest, the two of you just taking in each other. After a while, you realize you hadn’t seen Grogu since you woke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the kid?” you ask, sure he is safe since you were with friends, but you are suddenly gripped with a need to make sure he is unharmed and safe. “Can I see him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, Boba made him his own little room just down the hall. The kid is going to be so spoiled when we leave, Boba and Fennec bought him enough toys and balls to fill the Crest. I think they are competing to see who is his favorite uncle or aunt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*“Well, they both lose, because I’m obviously the favorite,” you said haughtily. He snorted and stood. You winced as he stretched and you heard his back pop. “You need to get better beds on the Crest, Mando, they suck.” He hummed and shrugged, rooting around in a dresser before pulling out a black shirt that looked like one of Boba’s, pulling it over his helmet carefully as he walked over to a stand that held his armor to grab his vambraces, buckling them on quickly before crossing to the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned when he turned around, disappointed that the cowl neck of the shirt covered the exposed skin at his neck, hiding the golden stretch from the rest of the world. You supposed you would just have to live with the knowledge that </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> had gotten to touch it, to taste him just a little bit before he hid it away. You examined him thoughtfully as he comms in the breakfast order. Boba had broader shoulders than Mando and the shirt hung a little on him, caught up on his vambraces and untucked around his waist. You supposed it made sense, he would want to be completely covered if someone was coming up to the room with breakfast, but you regretted the loss of his skin. It was silly, something so simple as the skin of his neck provoking such a reaction, but you couldn’t help being mesmerized by the first glimpse of his skin you had seen since you met him months ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go get the kid,” Mando broke into your thoughts and you blinked to focus, finding him standing at the end of the bed. “Then you can see if you are up for exploring, if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You nod eagerly, disappointment forgotten at the thought of food and wave him off as you swing your legs over the side of the bed, testing your weight. </span>
  <span>You focus on standing up and carefully walking to the fresher as he leaves to retrieve Grogu. You are pleased that you were able to handle yourself, pausing to examine yourself in the massive mirror above the sinks. You have to hand it to Boba, his medics had done good work, you couldn’t see a single burn mark. Your skin was still tender, it looked healthy, and when you pressed your fingers into the scar in your stomach and shoulder there was only a faint ache. The kid had saved your life. You hadn’t even known you could heal with the Force, but that was definitely something you were going to have the kid show you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You frowned into the mirror at your shaved head, turning your head this way and that as you examined the cut. The shaved part curved along your skull on one side, the exposed skin just as tender as the rest of your body. You finally shrugged and fussed with the rest of your hair until you were satisfied. It actually wasn’t that bad, you decided, gave off kind of a dangerous vibe. You could live with it for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mando hadn’t returned by the time you left the fresher, so you decided to be nosy and snooped through the room. Boba didn’t have a lot of personal effects in the room but unsurprisingly he had a ton of weapons stashed everywhere. One of the closets was wholly dedicated to weapon storage, the walls stripped of any hanging shelves and replaced with racks for any number of armaments. They weren’t full, but you didn’t doubt Boba would fill the space quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slid open before you could snoop some more, but your disappointment was quickly squashed by the delighted cry of the child in Mando’s arms. He squealed and wriggled hard, reaching for you. You plucked him from his father’s arms and hugged him tightly, laughing as Grogu clung to you, babbling in his adorable baby talk. The mental link the two of you had formed was bright with love and joy, his little mind too excited to process any words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello baby, you were so brave, you did such a good job saving your dad and me,” you whisper to him, nuzzling your face into his tiny head, accepting the sloppy kisses he pressed to your cheek. “Thank you for saving us, Grogu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s been whining for you non-stop,” Mando said softly, coming up to stand next to you and rub the kid’s ears. Grogu continued babbling, patting your face as he chattered. “We brought him in a couple times and let him sleep with you, you both seemed happier.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you too kid,” you tell him, pressing kisses to his tiny cheeks. Grogu giggled and flapped his ears in excitement. You climb back into bed with the kid, snuggling him into your side and pointing to the empty space beside you imperiously. “Aren’t you going to join us?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mando sighed like he was being severely put upon, but he climbed back into bed, crossing his legs and stretching back into his earlier spot. You burrow into the space next to him, bringing the kid to rest between you. He had brought a stuffed plush with him, a soft tooka toy that he babbled at. You smiled down at him, happy to have him nearby. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A thought crosses your mind and you crane your neck to look up at your helmeted companion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is Fett really a king?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mando barks a laugh and  launches into the story of how Fett came to possess the title, one he assured you was word for word from Fennec’s lips. You had spent many years in and out of Hutt space, and lived on Tatooine long enough to have heard the stories about Jabba’s demise, had heard the rumors of Boba dying in the sarlacc pit, knew that Bib Fortuna had taken over control of the desert planet. You had kept your nose clean as much as you could while you lived here, taking as few illegal jobs as you could. No tears shed from you that Bib had met his end at Boba’s blaster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So now Boba occupied the throne with Fennec as his right hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So this was what they were off to do when we left?” you confirmed after his story was done. The helmet dipped once and you considered. “Are we going to stay for a while, or do we go back to Nevarro as soon as possible?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fingers danced across your shoulder and side as he considered his answer. Between you, Grogu still played with his tooka, acting out a very dramatic scene with the toy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Boba said we are welcome as long as we want,” he said eventually. “I understand if you want to stay here, the kid and I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The kid is going with you, right?” you interrupt. “I’m his teacher, I go with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We had no way of knowing we were going to be ambushed, Mando,” you said sternly, sitting up so you could look him directly in the visor. Grogu looked up, made a questioning noise that you soothed with a soft hand on his ear, rubbing the soft skin gently. “We made it out. Neither of us are missing a limb, I know I’ve been in tighter scraps and came out just fine. I’m just glad I had you as back up. Having a Mandalorian around finally paid off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You weren’t bad in a pinch either,” he agreed, the teasing back in his tone. You snorted, pinching his arm just above the vambrace that he still wore, laughing. “It was...nice, having you on my six. Even if you did drop the kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You try holding onto him with a knife through your shoulder next time,” you grumbled, but you smiled, pleased that he was willing to tease you about the fight, to acknowledge that you could hold your own and not try to coddle you like a child. He tilted his head towards you, and you had the distinct impression he was locking eyes with you behind the helmet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ger ganar mandokar, verd’ika,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he said softly, and you shivered, you didn’t know the meaning behind the rough words, but it felt important. “You have the spirit of a Mandalorian. I just need to say it, thank you for saving the kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You dipped your head, accepting the praise and the thanks, as Mando said them as a grateful father, rather than as your companion in the fight. “I would never allow a single hair on his wrinkly green head to be harmed, you have my word, Mando. As long as I’m traveling with you, I will protect him and have your back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shuffled around until he was kneeling in front of you on the bed, shifting Grogu as he moved so he was perched on the pillows, and slowly bent his head so he could rest his helmet against your forehead, like you had seen Boba do to him so long ago. It was an odd feeling, the cold of the Mandalorian steel seeping into your skin, staring into the black of the visor. You were sure his eyes were locked on yours behind that helmet and you wondered what thoughts were trapped behind the beskar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You raised a hand to curl around his neck, digging into the exposed skin to keep him close to you. He made a noise deep in his throat, a soft grumble that made your skin tighten. You dragged your hand down his neck, tracing the rim of his helmet until you reached the visor edge. He was still as stone, though his fingers twitched on your leg, like he was fighting the instinct to pull your hand away. You let your nail rasp against the metal as you pulled your finger away, letting it drop to rest against his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Tell me something I don't know about you," you said softly, breathing the words into the space between you. He kept pressing his helmet to your skin for a few heartbeats before he moved back, settling in back against the carved footboard, legs stretched before him once again. You shuffled back to lean against Grogu’s pillow, picking up his toy with the Force and letting it dance around his head. He squealed in excitement and tried to grab the toy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Something about me?" Mando repeated, head tilted slightly as he thought. You smiled, amused that he was playing along with your game. You also got the distinct impression he was staring at you and you couldn’t stop yourself from preening under his gaze, straightening your shoulders and stretching out your legs to tangle with his. "I...like podracing. We had some shitty speeders in the covert I was raised in, Paz and I used to race, we got our asses handed to us after we got caught trying to make them faster. I follow it when I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mando the pod racer,” you tease, laughing. “Is that where your awful piloting comes from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a great pilot,” he said indignantly. You knocked his knee with your calf, laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mando you are a terrible pilot and your ship is 99% spare parts,” you deadpanned, squealing and ducking when he reached behind him to the bench at the foot of the bed and lobbed a throw pillow at you. Grogu squawked in annoyance when you smooshed him into the pillow to avoid the throw, and you held the throw pillow out to him, shouting with laughter when he sent it zipping back at his father’s helmet. Mando was still for a moment before he grabbed two more pillows and launched them across the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chaos quickly descended as a two against one battle quickly escalated to Mando rolling over the side of the bed and you scrambling to drag Grogu down behind a pillow bunker so you could toss pillows over the bed. Grogu was surprisingly good at sending the pillows flying, and you were gasping for breath from laughing so hard when Mando dove across the bed to tackle you, sending the pillows flying as you wrestled for control of the fluffy pillow you held. You finally won control of the feathery weapon and crowed your victory as you smack his helmet with it. Grogu laughed with you as you rolled off Mando and lie next to him, panting and laughing. The sound of laughter crackling through the vocoder made your heart squeeze, and you had to remind yourself that the kid was right there, leaning over the edge of the bed to giggle down at you and his dad, that you had already agreed that a conversation with Boba was needed before things went any further. That straddling him and peeling him out of that damn flightsuit was not an appropriate response to a pillow fight with your tiny green charge. But Maker, you wanted to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You sit up and grab Grogu before he can launch himself off the side of the bed, hugging him close once again. He cooed at you, happy to be in your arms. The soft ding of the door broke the moment and Mando got up to retrieve the breakfast tray as you righted the pillows on the bed, giggling with Grogu as he hopped across the sheets. Mando set the tray on the bed and the kid’s attention was immediately caught by the sight of food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think he’s ever full,” Mando said as the kid stole a piece of fruit from your plate, chattering at it. You snort and eat your own breakfast, thoroughly enjoying the fresh food that Boba had access to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just don’t know where it all goes,” you reply, watching the kid finally focus on his own plate of runny eggs. “He’s so small.” You watch the kid eat a little longer before you turn back to Mando.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said something about exploring the palace?” you ask as you grimace at the glass of blue milk on the tray. Mando nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, the place is pretty safe, Shand has a tight grip on security. Boba got called down for something that needed his attention a while ago, but we can still poke around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think, kid?” you said, looking down at Grogu. He smiled up at you, waving a sticky hand at you. You carefully clean his tiny fingers before pushing the tray away. “He said that sounds fun. Did someone bring my clothes up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mando pointed to a dresser by the bed and you scrambled to collect some clothes so you could go exploring. You slipped into the fresher while Mando cleaned up breakfast and tried to put the bed to rights, which quickly devolved into playing keep away with Grogu when he wanted whatever pillow was in his dad's hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before long you were pulling on your boots and smoothing your hair, satisfied that you looked presentable and not like an invalid being released from a sick ward. You had found your hip holster tucked neatly beside your leggings and belted it on, but you didn't see the shoulder holster you had never returned to Mando.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It got damaged in the fight," Mando explained when you returned to the bedroom and asked after the equipment. "I'll get you another one, if you like." He tilted his helmet at you in question and you smiled and nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I never planned on giving it back anyway," you laugh as you meandered into Boba's weapons room and examined the shelves again carefully. Behind you, you heard the soft clicks and rustle of leather and metal as Mando put his armor in place. You found your blaster, the DL-44 practically shining on a middle rack, someone had taken it apart and cleaned it within an inch of its life. You bet good credits it had been Boba. With a soft smile, you double check all the connections; it had been put back together properly, even some parts that were getting worn down had been replaced, but you hadn't gotten this far in the galaxy by taking anything on faith. Satisfied with its condition, you slid it into its holster and continued your search for the rest of your weapons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*Mando joined you after he was finished replacing his armor and you handed him his own weapons as you passed them, watching him do his own checks as he loaded up out of the corner of your eye. Under the armor, he had tucked the loose shirt in as much as he could, cowl still firmly tucked under his helmet and you had admired the contrast between the silver armor and the black shirt, more striking than against the normal grey and brown of his flight suit. His armor looked freshly polished, gleaming in the overhead lights, he had obviously taken the time to repair any damage from the flames. His gloves were new, still leather and orange tipped, but brand new, you had seen him flexing his hands a few times that morning as if he was still breaking in the leather. He didn't wear a cloak, just the jetpack and his armor, loaded with weapons, a killing machine encased in the galaxy's most valuable armor.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>You shook yourself from your thoughts, reminding yourself you were an adult, a trained killer, everything this man did should not make you want to push him against the wall and suck his cock in a room full of death.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except you were only human, and without the cloak in the way, you could see his tight ass through the fibreweave flight suit and you had to force yourself to turn away and resume your search for your knives before you did something stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a cry of triumph, you open a metal case and find nine of your knives resting in the foam lined case, each gleaming like they had just come off the factory line. You make a note to start looking for a new one, the lost knife had been your favorite fighter. You make quick work of sliding the knives into their sheathes. And if you angle your body a little towards Mando, making sure to catch his attention when you slide the palm sized throwing knives into your bra, well that’s between you and the Maker, isn’t it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You find your electrostaff by the door, and unsurprisingly it had been given the same treatment as the rest of them, the durasteel cleaned to a dull shine and sling it across your back. You feel Mando’s eyes on you as you snatch Grogu from the bed and wiggle his toy in his face, making him laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you clean these?” you ask as you leave the room and follow him down the hall. You were struck by the plainness of the rest of the palace, the tan walls and few decorations beyond the painted archways. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We both did,” he replied after a minute, leading the way down a flight of stairs. “Something to do while we waited for you to wake up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” you said softly, reaching out to touch the back of his gloved hand. He covered your hand briefly before pulling away and continuing on the journey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You follow Mando down several more flights of stairs until you reach the lowest level. Grogu babbles in your arms, squealing whenever your little party passed someone in the hall, though they were all quick to duck their head and scurry away when they caught sight of the fierce Mandalorian with you. You hid a smile into Grogu’s head as you strode past the frightened inhabitants of the palace. It always amused you, the power and authority, the fear, that the silhouette of the armor brought; you always noticed the difference in treatment if you went somewhere with Mando than if you were by yourself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As you found yourself in parts of the palace you were more familiar with from the few times you had come here looking for work. You took the lead as you approached the throne room, tightening your hold on Grogu as you descended the steps into the sunken pit that had once been Jabba the Hutt’s seat of power, but now belonged to another. Another who was seated on the massive bronze throne, surrounded by the worst of the galaxy, looking every inch the fierce warlord. You had been right, all those months ago when you had been put through your paces in the cargo hold of Boba’s ship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked like a king.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mando’a Translation:<br/>Ger ganar mandokar: You have the right stuff, the epitome of Mandalorian virtue – a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life. – translation thanks to mandoa.org</p><p>Visit me on Tumblr! <a>@AerinKebiinkads</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter Thirteen: When I Start Drinking, My Dick Does All My Thinking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>He was power, pure and simple, wearing his full armor and helmet, armed to the teeth, lazily leaning against the side of his throne as he listened to the babbling of the human smuggler, stuttering through excuses on why he dumped his last load of spice.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My life imploded, and then I got drunk and wrote this. I have nothing to say for myself except I hope you all enjoy Reader being a Bad Bitch.</p><p>So much kudos and love to Fae_Monster to listening to me rant about this story for months and get no writing done, she deserves all the worship!!</p><p>STORY UPDATE: I have updated chapter 12 to add some continuity, edits are marked with a * if you want to go back and read, its literally like 2 paragraphs if you don't. I also made the decision to go back and edit chapter 1 and 2 of When Stars Collide to make things flow better, there are somethings that I want to do in Fire that just wouldn't work with what I had originally written. Not a ton, there are note in the Chapter notes of both chapters to keep everyone up to date. I hope you guys love it still!</p><p>Song Inspo: Everywhere I Go - Hollywood Undead</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The audience chamber was once again restored to its full hellish glory, filled with the tinny music of the jizz band playing in the back of the room, the buzz and flow of a dozen conversations between the scum of the underworld. You counted four people you had gotten into fights with and a dozen others you had sailed with at one point or another. You wave languidly to a stocky Rodian who had captained your first smuggling ship, who returned the gesture hesitantly when he saw your companions. Mando stuck close to your side, a hand on his blaster in silent threat and you suddenly remembered you had a bounty on your head. You hug the kid close, letting a hand rest on your own blaster as you weave your way through the crowd. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fennec was waiting by the stairs to the dais, leaning against the wall nonchalantly as she watched the room with an air of disinterest. She jerked her head in greeting as you joined her, waving two fingers at Grogu who giggled at her. You started to settle beside her, Mando sliding in behind you, keeping an eye on the crowd, before Boba called for the other Mandalorian to join him. You shoved Mando closer to the dais, waving off his protests that the kid would be fine with you, and watched in amusement as he climbed the stairs, nodding at Boba, who nodded back once before taking up position to the right of the massive throne, silent and deadly, silver beskar gleaming under the lights. Your attention was brought back to Boba when he shifted, attention once more directed to the human kneeling before the throne.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was power, pure and simple, wearing his full armor and helmet, armed to the teeth, lazily leaning against the side of his throne as he listened to the babbling of the human smuggler, stuttering through excuses on why he dumped his last load of spice. You snorted when he mentioned trying to run from pirates. You’d take pirates any day over disappointing the Crime Lord of Tatooine, and that was before Boba took over. He looked like a warrior king, powerful and deadly, lounging on the giant throne.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grogu babbled in your arms, trying to wiggle himself free, stretching his arms towards Boba. You smooth a hand over his tiny hairs and ears, trying to soothe him before he caused a scene. Fennec snorted beside you and took the kid’s toy, wriggling it in front of him and making him laugh. A few people turned their heads at the sound and you leveled a deadly glare at them, daring anyone to say anything. Eyes quickly turned away from the menace of the pair of you, armed to the teeth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Boba seemed to tire of the man's whining excuses and finally waved a hand for him to be removed. You watched in bemusement as the smuggler was dragged off by a pair of Devaronian guards, still protesting. You raise an eyebrow at Fennec who shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fett will probably throw him in the cells for a while. The rancor pit hasn’t gotten much use lately.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sound disappointed, Fen,” you remark, turning a level stare at a bounty hunter sitting nearby who kept looking at you from the corner of his eye and checking something on his comm. You raised your voice slightly so the other hunter could hear you. “But it is too bad, I’m sure the thing is getting pretty hungry. Maybe Boba will take pity on it and feed it soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hunter blanched and turned away, engrossing himself in conversation with his table mates. You smirk, shifting the kid a little higher as you leaned back against the wall, idly watching the rest of the room. The kid started to fuss in your arms, clearly wanting to get down and explore, and you tightened your hold on him, not willing to let him go in the middle of a den of thieves and bounty hunters. Fennec made to move away and Grogu immediately turned his attention on her, reaching for her with a soft whine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come here kid, let's go scare some people silly," she said cheerfully as she took him from you despite your protests, tucking him under her arm and melting away before you could move to take him back. A flash of silver in the corner of your eye made you turn to look at Mando, who had his helmet trained on you. You shrugged and winked, lifting your hands as if to say, what can I do? It wasn’t like Fennec wasn’t trustworthy, in fact she was one of only two people in the universe you would trust him with explicitly, the other sitting beside Mando, deep in conversation with a Trandoshian in black and yellow armor. Mando nodded once to you before turning his attention back to Boba.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly finding yourself alone in the crowd, you smiled to yourself and looked around, wondering if you would see any more familiar faces. A group near the back, a Bothan, two Rodians and a human male, stuck out to you and your smile widened when you recognized them as former crewmates. You pushed off the wall and wove your way through the crowd to approach them, well aware of two pairs of helmeted eyes following your movements.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, if it isn’t the captain’s knife dancer,” the Bothan said cheerfully, waving a hand for you to join them. “Haven’t seen you in a while, been keeping your nose out of trouble?” You smirked, resting your electrostaff against the booth and sliding in beside the human, a shifty male that had been raised on Corellia, if you remembered correctly, Jado something, you thought. They had all been part of a smuggling crew back in the day and you were not a bit surprised that they were still sailing together. You had been a different person back then, a darker, less scrupulous version of yourself that you never wanted to return to. But they had all been friends, and it was always nice to have a drink with old friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know me, I go where the action is,” you said with a smile, signalling one of the servants circulating in the room for a drink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Must be quite a story, last we saw you were getting off the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Disciple </span>
  </em>
  <span>on Cantonica and you show up here, with a Mandalorian no less!” the Rhodian farthest from you, a male you had been partnered with on a few runs, mused. You lifted a shoulder, taking the glass of Corellian whiskey from the servant who appeared at your side, sliding her a credit chip before she could move away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you know how it is, Tyco, right place, right time. The Mandalorian needed help on his ship and I needed a lift off the planet I was on,” you said easily, knocking back your drink. Beside you, Jado snorted into his drink. You raised an eyebrow, baring your teeth slightly at him. You hadn’t spent much time with him, not like the others at the table, but you remembered he had a perchance for drama.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were just going to start a game of sabaac, if you wanted to join us,” Tyco said, pulling your attention from Jado. You grinned and nodded eagerly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, deal me in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You played several rounds with them, winning a couple but losing more, too distracted keeping an eye on the Mandalorians to really pay attention to the game. You could feel their eyes on you, watching every drink you downed, every laugh and joke tossed across the table. Your wounds, as healed as they were, started to burn after a while, and you kept having to stop yourself from scratching your face and shaved scalp when the tender skin itched. At one point Tyco asked about the healing wounds on your face and you regaled them with the tale, tugging your sleeve off your shoulder to show them the scar from the knife. That quickly devolved into a competition of who had the most outrageous collection of scars, which Drexi, the other Rodian, ended up winning when she stood and pulled up her vest to show her back, which was covered in a crosshatch of raised scars she claimed were from a rancor she had narrowly escaped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You were just starting to think about signalling Mando and heading back to Boba’s room, an ache in your leg starting to form under your skin, when Jado leaned closer to you, throwing an arm over your shoulders. A quick glance at the dais told you both Mando and Boba were busy with another crew seeking an audience, so you raised an eyebrow at the man, glaring at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, knife girl,” he said congenially, ignoring the pointed looks you threw his arm and the way you try to move away. He tightened his arm around you and you palmed a knife, ready to use it if needed. “Does your Mando know just what you used to get up to on our crew?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You still, ice freezing your veins as you stare him down. Your mind went screaming back to that time of your life, the way you had not cared for a damn thing, so young and angry at the world. Your time with the crew of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Disciple</span>
  </em>
  <span> had been during that dark time, when you had used knives and blasters before words, when you had had no qualms about who was hurt in the name of a profit. You had lived like that for longer than you cared to admit, and Jado’s words brought that time slamming back. And suddenly, you remember exactly why you left this crew, the memory buried so deeply in your mind you had willingly forgotten about the blood that coated your hands. You turned an icy glare on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take your hands off me,” you said softly, flicking the knife in your hand slightly to catch his gaze. He smirked at you, and you froze when you felt the point of his knife pressed against your collarbone. Kriff, you were slipping, you hadn’t even realized he had a knife in the hand thrown over your shoulders. The alcohol buzzing in your system, mixing with the last remaining meds from your injury, was making you slip and you hated it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do as I say, and your precious Mandalorian won’t have to hear about what a slut you used to be, all the people you murdered in cold blood for nothing but a payday,” Jado whispered into your ear, leaning in close. You glanced at your companions, but they were engrossed in another round of sabaac. They would be no help. “I haven’t forgotten that you got my brother killed. I’m going to take everything from you, before I kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You inhaled shallowly as your mind flits through your options. You were quick with a knife, but this close you weren’t sure you could be faster than him. You could try to use the Force to signal Mando for help, but something deep inside you rebelled against that option. You had been stupid enough to forget what a vicious creature Jado was and besides, you didn’t need Mando to swoop in every time you were in danger and rescue you. A sudden commotion by the dais caught your attention, the sudden hush through the throne room as everyone held their breath allowing the noise of the rumble of the doors to the rancor pit started to creak open to fill the chamber, and you had an idea. A wicked idea, but now was not the time to be squeamish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You allow yourself to go limp, to sag against your captor, and you can tell from the way he preened he’s pleased with himself, already savoring his victory. You force yourself to drag a hand up his thigh, snarling to yourself internally, but allowing him to believe he’s won.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want, Jado?” you said softly, putting a tiny whine in your voice. He smirked down at you, but not moving the knife from your collarbone. The first smart thing he had done all night, if he had moved it away you would have sent a knife through his heart so quickly he wouldn’t have been able to take another breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First, I think an introduction to the boss is a must, since you run in his circles. Just put a quiet word in his ear, so we get a good contract.” You nod and lower your head, waiting for him to motion you to leave the booth, the knife shifting down to poke lightly against your spine as you move. The others still haven’t acknowledged the two of you and you promise yourself you will get retribution on them later. You allowed him to maneuver you through the quiet crowd, approaching the dais quietly. You see Mando’s silver helmet turn towards you and you send him a quick signal to stay there, despite the heavy hand Jado has on your shoulder as he follows you, knife digging into your back hard enough to prick skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rancor pit is fully open and you can see the two Devaronian guards pulling a struggling human between them towards the pit, can hear the growls of the hungry beast below. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five steps...four...three...two...one…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jado, I think you forgot about something,” you said quietly as you neared the pit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what might that be, whore?” he hissed back at you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You forgot about my powers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Summoning the Force, you use it to bolster your speed as you whirl around and knock the knife out of his hand before you grab him and yank him close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Say hello to your brother for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You shoved him hard, taking a vicious pleasure in the panic in his eyes before he disappeared into the pit. The audience chamber was as silent as a tomb except for the roar of the rancor and Jado’s screams, which were abruptly silenced as the beast fell on his newest victim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You raise your head and flash a dangerous snarl at Fett and the silver Mandalorian, who were frozen just like the rest of the crowd. A dangerous pleasure filled you, a feeling you had stifled and stamped down for years and you dipped a brief curtsy at the dais.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My apologies, my King,” you lilt, letting the anger roar from you and coat the room until you could practically taste the fear from the crowd. You reveled in it, allowed the old you to slip free and show in your eyes as you sneered back at the table of your old crewmates. “But he wanted to take something from you that I thought you would not be willing to give up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From his throne, Boba leaned forward, gesturing for you to join him. You ascended the steps to the throne to slide onto the arm of his chair, preening for him and allowing the lust that suddenly spiked through you to coat him and Mando. You sneered at the quiet crowd, daring any of them to say a thing as you lounged on the throne.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What might that have been, </span>
  <em>
    <span>cyare</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Boba asked as he settled his hand on your knee, and Mando came up to hover over the throne. You smiled at them, allowing the bloodlust you had surrendered to to drown you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I apologize for NOTHING.</p><p>But I love you all and I hope you know all your kudos and love and comments give me so much joy!!</p><p>Visit me on Tumblr! <a>@AerinKebiinkads</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>